Syria bans Iranians and Israelis from entering the country

Citizens from Iran and Israel are banned from entering the , now governed by a new government, he told the French Agency source from Damascus. International flights resumed on 7 January at Damascus International Airport, almost a month after Bashar al-Assad was expelled from power in Syria by a coalition dominated by Islamists. CORVERSE Only a few airlines have repeated or announced that they will resume their flights to Syria. The airport’s source in Damascus stated on Thursday (16/01/2025) at the French Agency asking not to name itself that the airport authorities asked airlines flying to Syria not to allow Israelis and Iranians to board their planes for Syria. Israeli citizens have not long been able to enter the country, as Syria and Israel are technically at war and have no diplomatic relations. Relations between Damascus and Tehran are at zero after Assad was overthrown, whom Iran had militaryly supported. CORVERSE Two airlines showed compliance with these measures, which temporary Syrian authorities have not announced publicly. Source to a travel agency in Damascus stated that the company “has received instructions from Qatar Airways that it is currently not possible to book flights for Iranians who want to go to Damascus”. “However, we have not received any official directive on the matter from the Ministry of Transport,” added the source who asked not to be named. Qatar Airways was the first international airline to announce that it would resume its flights to Damascus. Turkish Airlines announced on Wednesday that it would resume flights to Damascus from 23 January, after ten years of interruption. A notice posted on the Turkish Airlines website clarified that, in accordance with recent decisions by the Syrian Arab authorities, certain rules have been laid down for passengers entering Syria. “Citizens of all countries, except Israel, can enter the country”, according to the announcement that Iranians “can enter the country only by prior authorisation”.