Iran says no flights to Syria until late January

Iran’s top civilian aviation official says flights to Syria will remain suspended until late January, Iranian state-run media reports.

“In order to fly to a country, the destination country must grant entry and admission permits,” the head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, Hossein Pourfarzaneh, is quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.

“Currently, flights to Syria will not be allowed until January 22, after the New Year holidays,” he adds.

It is not clear exactly when Iran suspended flights to Syria.

Thousands of Iranians have left Syria since the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, an Iranian ally.

A report Monday suggested Iran was mulling using Beirut’s airport instead of Damascus as its main hub for smuggling weapons and other aid to the Hezbollah terror group.