Turkey's airlines suspend flights to Iraq, Iran

ISTANBUL-Anadolu Agency

Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines and Pegasus Airlines on Jan. 8 temporarily suspended its scheduled flights to Iraq and Iran.

Turkish Airlines said that due to tensions between Iran and the U.S., the flights to Iraq and Iran will halt until 9.00 p.m. local time (1800GMT) on Jan. 9.

The airlines' flights will not use the airspace of these two countries, it added.

Earlier on Jan. 8, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against U.S. military and coalition forces in Iraq.

Iran's actions were in retaliation to last week’s U.S. drone strike that killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani.

Singapore Airlines has already diverted flights from Iranian airspace. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has also said it would ban carriers from conducting travel in the region over Iraq, Iran, the Gulf, and the Gulf of Oman.