TEHRAN: Iran has asked the United States to allow direct flights between the two countries after a break of more than two decades, a senior civil aviation official said Thursday.
"We sent a letter to the relevant American officials on Wednesday, announcing Iran's willingness to resume direct flights," Nourollah Rezai-Niaraki, head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation, said on state television.
He said the decision to make the request was made by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad because of demand from the large Iranian community living in the United States. "They have repeatedly complained about wasting time and losing their baggage on connecting flights," he said.
Iranian airliners have been barred from the United States since the U.S. government broke ties with Tehran after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
International Herald Tribune
"We sent a letter to the relevant American officials on Wednesday, announcing Iran's willingness to resume direct flights," Nourollah Rezai-Niaraki, head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation, said on state television.
He said the decision to make the request was made by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad because of demand from the large Iranian community living in the United States. "They have repeatedly complained about wasting time and losing their baggage on connecting flights," he said.
Iranian airliners have been barred from the United States since the U.S. government broke ties with Tehran after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
International Herald Tribune
