Iran’s Security Council denies military retaliation over airspace restrictions: “Countermeasures will be non-military”

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has denied claims that Tehran seeks military retaliation in response to the recent airspace restrictions imposed by countries in the region.

In a statement, the Council’s secretariat said it was responding to “inaccurate interpretations” of remarks by its secretary, Mohsen Rezaei. According to the statement, negotiations with the relevant countries to lift several “illegal airspace restrictions” are being pursued seriously.

Iran would apply “various non-military countermeasures” against specific airports if the need arose, the secretariat said, adding: “We hope the situation does not reach that point.”

The statement comes after Rezaei warned on Wednesday that Tehran would retaliate against neighboring countries cooperating with the latest U.S. aviation sanctions on global companies doing business with Iranian airlines. His threat was widely reported as a signal of possible military escalation — which the secretariat now calls a misinterpretation.

The development comes amid heightened tension around Iranian civil aviation: Iraq today asked the United States for a sanctions waiver for flights to Iran serving civilian interests, while on September 22 it closed its airports to Iranian aircraft from midnight, following pressure from U.S. sanctions, as Al Jazeera reports.