TEHRAN – Iran will soon resume direct flights from Tehran to Erbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan, Erbil, Iranian consul general in Erbil Morteza Ebadi announced on Tuesday.

Speaking with ISNA, Ebadi said flights will start again on April 27, almost six month after Iraq’s central government imposed an air ban on the region in response to an independence vote in the Kurdistan region.

In September 2017, foreign airlines suspended flights to Erbil and Sulaimaniya. The consul general said talks were under way to resume flight to Sulaimaniya as well.

Iran re-opened a few border crossings with the Iraqi Kurdistan in October and January, which it had closed after the referendum at the request of Baghdad.

MH/PA