Iran has warned neighboring countries that have barred Iranian flights from using their airspace at the direction of the United States that if restrictions are imposed on Iranian aircraft, airports in those countries will also be unable to operate normally.

Speaking to Iran’s state broadcaster, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said that if any country imposes restrictions on Iranian flights at the request of the United States, Iran will not remain silent.

Rezaei said, “If you ban our flights and cooperate with the United States, there will be no flights at your airports either. If you stand with the United States, we will not sit by as silent spectators.”

It may be recalled that after the United States announced sanctions on Iranian airlines, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Oman, Qatar and Türkiye stopped Iran Air flights on Wednesday, while China did not take such action.

China has made it clear that it considers the ban on Iranian flights illegal and unilateral and strongly opposes it.