Iran closed the airspace over the western part of the country to all flights until Monday, another sign that the United States may resume its air campaign against Iran.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Islamic Republic of Iran issued the notice to airmen late on Friday, canceling all remaining flights until the next morning. The sudden move added to a growing cache of evidence suggesting a possible reignition of the war with Iran, which has been under a fragile ceasefire since early April.
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Around the same time the notam was issued, an aircraft known to be a Qatari government VIP plane was caught leaving Tehran. Notably, it didn’t take a direct route to Qatar, instead taking a northwest route consistent with leaving Iranian airspace as quickly as possible. The plane likely belonged to a senior Qatari delegation that went to Tehran to try to broker a peace deal between Iran and the U.S.
Also on Friday, President Donald Trump revealed he wouldn’t be attending his own son’s wedding, as “circumstances pertaining to Government, and my love for the United States of America, do not allow me to do so.” He made a similar comment on Thursday, noting the situation in Iran.
“He’d like me to go,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office. “But it’s going to be just a small, little private affair, and I’m going to try and make it. I’m in the midst — I said, you know, this is not good timing for me. I have a thing called Iran and other things. That’s one I can’t win on.”
“If I do attend, I get killed. If I don’t attend, I get killed, by the fake news, of course,” he added. “He’s got a very — a person who I’ve known for a long time, and hopefully they are going to have a great marriage.”
Sources familiar with the matter told CBS News on Friday that some members of the military and intelligence communities canceled their Memorial Day weekend plans in preparation for the possible resumption of the war.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the White House for comment.
Notably, Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir reportedly arrived in Tehran on Friday and appears to still be there at the time of writing on Friday evening.
TRUMP MISSING SON’S WEDDING BECAUSE OF NEED TO BE AT THE WHITE HOUSE AS IRAN WAR DEADLINE LOOMS
Trump has been mum on whether the war will reignite. Diplomacy has failed to make any significant breakthroughs this week, after the president claimed on Monday that he delayed the planned resumption of the war on Tuesday at the request of the Gulf countries to give more time to negotiate.
“Iran is dying to make a deal,” Trump said Friday. “We’ll see what happens.”
