Flying in Real Life
An airliner was turned around in the sky over Turkmenistan: Ashgabat decided to close its airspace to Iran
**Flights in Reality**
A passenger aircraft of the Iranian airline Varesh Airlines, operating a flight from Tehran to Dushanbe, was forced to abort its flight midway through the route and return to Imam Khomeini Airport. The reason was a ban by the Turkmen authorities on transit through their airspace.
The refusal was reported by Iranian media, citing Majid Akhavan, a representative of the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran. Although a video initially appeared online in which the pilot spoke of a lack of permits from Azerbaijan and several neighboring countries, the main obstacle turned out to be precisely the Turkmen ban.
At the same time, no one asked the Turkmen side to block flights or assume the role of a global sanctions overseer. This ban is entirely the initiative of local officials, creating artificial barriers in international air travel.
This self-willed action is apparently linked to the decision of the US Department of the Treasury, which on September 23 included all Iranian airlines in its sanctions list, threatening secondary restrictions for any services provided to them worldwide. However, Turkmenistan preferred to play it safe and preempt hypothetical threats, striking at the interests of its neighbors without any external coercion.