| Submit your comments on this article |
| Arabia |
| Flights resume in Bandar Abbas as UAE accuses Tehran of striking one of its ships in Hormuz |
| 2026-08-16 |
| [IsraelTimes] Iranian state media reported that flights at the port city of Bandar Abbas resumed on Saturday after repeated interruptions during the war. Kazem Tavassoli, director general of airports in Hormozgan province, said “scheduled flights at Bandar Abbas International Airport on high-traffic domestic routes resumed today,” according to the IRNA state news agency. The reopening comes “following limited flights in recent days,” Tavassoli said, adding that passengers can now buy tickets for the Tehran-Bandar Abbas, Mashhad-Bandar Abbas and Bandar Abbas-Isfahan routes, in both directions. The airport “handled 35 to 40 domestic and international flights per day” before the war, Tavassoli said. The airport has been repeatedly closed since the war began on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, which retaliated with attacks across the region. A lull in fighting has been in place since late July, though Iranian strikes targeting shipping have continued, with the United Arab Emirates on Saturday blaming Iran for attacking a vessel belonging to state-owned oil giant ADNOC in the Hormuz strait. Tehran has imposed an effective blockade of the strait, a vital shipping route for global energy supplies, carrying out strikes on commercial ships since the war began in February. The Islamic Republic has said it wants to charge users for passage through the international waterway, which Washington fiercely opposes. The UAE’s foreign ministry condemned what it called a “hostile Iranian attack that targeted a vessel affiliated with ADNOC,” the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. It added that “targeting commercial shipping and using the Strait of Hormuz as a tool of economic coercion or blackmail represents acts of piracy by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.” ADNOC had earlier “confirmed that one of its vessels was attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on the evening of Friday, August 14,” according to the official WAM news agency, but reported no injuries. In its statement, ADNOC stressed the importance of protecting seafarers and safeguarding freedom of navigation and maritime security. After the attack, UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said the Gulf state would defend its “rights to freedom of navigation” in the Strait of Hormuz. “The repeated targeting of ADNOC tankers will not deter the UAE from pursuing a balanced and prudent policy based on the three pillars of deterrence, diplomacy, and adherence to international law,” he wrote in a post on X. “We will exert every effort to strengthen a unified Gulf position, as it is a fundamental pillar for protecting the security of the region and the interests of its member states in this ongoing crisis.” The announcement came a day after the UAE accused Iran of attacking two vessels linked to ADNOC as they passed through the strait. The UAE foreign ministry condemned the attack and said no injuries had been reported. Last week, ADNOC reported that three of its tankers had been attacked in the waterway, while the Emirati foreign ministry separately announced an attack on another ADNOC tanker a day later. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |