Iran bars Lebanese planes from bringing back stranded citizens after Israeli ‘threat’
Tehran says flights can resume when Beirut lets in Iranian planes; Lebanon stopped an Iranian plane from landing following an IDF warning against cash transfers to Hezbollah
Iran barred Lebanese planes from repatriating dozens of Lebanese nationals stranded in Iran on Friday, in response to Lebanon’s refusal to let an Iranian flight touch down at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport, following what Tehran described as an illegal Israeli threat.
Lebanon blocked the flight Thursday following a statement by the IDF that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was using civilian flights to smuggle cash to Hezbollah. The IDF said it would use “all the tools at its disposal” to enforce a truce that requires Lebanon to halt arms transfers to the Iran-backed terror group.
Beirut’s move elicited protests by the Iran-backed terror group, a minor partner in the new Lebanese government.
Iran said Friday that it would forbid Lebanese flights to land until its own flights were cleared to land in Beirut.
The standoff has left dozens of Lebanese citizens stranded in Iran for three days after attending a religious pilgrimage. They had been due to return to Beirut on Iran’s Mahan Air before Lebanon barred the plane from landing.
Without mentioning the IDF statement, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Friday that “the threat by the Zionist regime to a passenger plane carrying Lebanese citizens has disrupted normal flights to Beirut airport.”
Baghaei condemned what he said were Israel’s “gross and continuous violations of the principles and rules of international law and violations of Lebanon’s national sovereignty.”
He also called for the International Civil Aviation Organization and other world bodies “to stop Israel’s dangerous behavior against the safety and security of civil aviation.”
Lebanon’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation said on Thursday it had “temporarily rescheduled” some flights, including from Iran, until February 18 as it was implementing “additional security measures.”
That date coincides with the deadline for Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon under the November 27 ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah. The withdrawal deadline had been pushed off from January 26. Israel is reportedly seeking to extend its stay in certain areas past the deferred deadline.
During the nearly 14 months of fighting war ended with the ceasefire, Israel repeatedly accused Hezbollah of using Lebanon’s only airport to smuggle arms from Iran.
In September, Lebanon’s transport ministry ordered an Iranian aircraft not to enter its airspace after Israel warned air traffic control at Beirut airport that it would use “force” if the plane landed.
The ceasefire required Hezbollah to vacate southern Lebanon, and let Israel act against imminent threats by the terror group. On Friday, Israel struck what it said were Hezbollah weapon caches in south Lebanon.
The war was sparked when Hezbollah, unprovoked, began attacking Israel on a near-daily basis on October 8, 2023 — a day after fellow Iran-backed group Hamas stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages. The war with Hezbollah displaced some 60,000 residents of northern Israel.
Iran leaves dozens of Lebanese stranded
Iran’s ambassador to Beirut, Mojtaba Amani, told Iran’s state television on Friday that Iran would allow Lebanese planes to land only if Iranian flights were allowed to travel to Beirut.
“For sure, the Lebanese government’s request will be accepted, but on condition that they do not impede Iranian flights,” he said.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Joe Raggi told Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed on Friday that his ministry was working to resolve the issue with its Iranian counterpart.
A Lebanese man from the group currently stuck in #Tehran after Lebanese authorities prevented the plane from returning to Lebanon said the group went to Iran for a religious trip (Ziyarah) and nothing else.
Now, they're left stranded, without money and without answers.
"We are… pic.twitter.com/tGFyKhwTOh
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) February 13, 2025
Hezbollah parliamentarian Ibrahim al-Moussawi on Thursday called on Lebanon’s government to “take the necessary measures to guarantee Lebanon’s sovereignty over all its public facilities, most importantly the airport.”
Late Thursday, a crowd of Hezbollah supporters blocked the Beirut airport road and burned tires to protest the decision to bar the Iranian planes from landing.
Images showed young men raising Hezbollah’s yellow flag and holding portraits of the group’s former leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike in September, and of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in an American strike in January 2020.
After the airport protests, Lebanese authorities said they were working to bring back Lebanese passengers stranded in Iran with planes belonging to the Beirut-based Middle East Airlines.
???????? #Lebanon – A group of supporters of Hezbollah parties blocked the road to Beirut International Airport with burning tires, in protest against the Lebanese government forcing an Iranian plane carrying Lebanese passengers to return to Tehran.
Lebanese army intervenes. pic.twitter.com/eIHtfrijJF— Mete Sohtaoğlu (@metesohtaoglu) February 13, 2025
But Saeed Chalandari, CEO of Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport, said on Friday that Iran had rejected the proposal.
“Naturally, we do not agree to their request because if there is to be a flight between the two countries, it must be a two-way flight,” Chalandari told Iranian news agency Tasnim.
