Armenia Airways cancels flight to Tehran for security reasons

YEREVAN, Jan 12 (MENA) - Armenia Airways has joined the ranks of carriers that halted flights to Iran in the wake of the recent erroneous downing of a Ukrainian passenger jetliner by the Iranian military, announcing it had cancelled the flight from the Armenian capital of Yerevan to the Iranian capital of Tehran on Sunday.

According to Russia's Sputnik news agency, carriers from around the world began halting flights to Iran since Thursday; their list currently includes, but is not limited to, Germany’s Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, KLM Air France, Vietnam Airlines, Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd, Singapore Airlines, and Air Canada.

Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashed near Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport minutes after takeoff on Wednesday. All 176 people on board were killed.

The crash occurred shortly after Iran launched airstrikes against US bases in neighbouring Iraq. On Saturday, the Iranian military admitted to unintentionally shooting down the Ukrainian Boeing 737, having confused it with a hostile cruise missile in anticipation of a retaliatory strike from the US.