A plane taking off from the cargo runway at Beirut's international airport. AFP
Israel has repeatedly accused Hezbollah—without providing evidence—of using Lebanon’s only airport to transfer weapons to the group. On Friday, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee threatened to "thwart" any such alleged attempts sparking fears of an attack on the airport.
The Iranian foreign ministry said that "the threat by the Zionist regime to a passenger plane carrying Lebanese citizens has disrupted normal flights to Beirut airport".
Hezbollah and Lebanese officials have denied Israel's claims that Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport was used for arming.
Baqaei condemned Israel's "gross and continuous violations of the principles and rules of international law and violations of Lebanon's national sovereignty".
Israeli warplanes have repeatedly attacked the civilian airport during the Israeli escalation on Lebanon, which saw a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah come into effect late last year.
He also called for the International Civil Aviation Organization and other world bodies "to stop Israel's dangerous behaviour against the safety and security of civil aviation".
Lebanon's Directorate General of Civil Aviation said on Thursday it had "temporarily rescheduled" some flights from Iran until 18 February as it was implementing "additional security measures".
That date coincides with the deadline for the full implementation of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, which Israel has failed to abide by.
Attack on UN vehicle
Late Thursday, a crowd of Lebanese supporters of Hezbollah protested the decision to bar the Iranian planes from landing. AFP images showed young men raising Hezbollah's yellow flag and holding portraits of the group's former leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike in September, and of Iran's slain Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani.
A United Nations vehicle was set on fire around the same time as the protests as Lebanese President Joseph Aoun vowed to punish the perpetrators of an attack on the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) that wounded Nepalese outgoing deputy force commander Chok Bahadur Dhakal as he was returning home.
Aoun "emphasised that the attackers will receive their punishment" and said "security forces will not be lenient with any party that tries to upset stability and civil peace", according to a statement from the presidency on X.
Lebanese authorities set to hold an emergency meeting on the attack Saturday also said they were working to bring back Lebanese passengers stranded in Iran with planes belonging to Beirut-based Middle East Airlines.
But Saeed Chalandari, CEO of Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport, said on Friday that Iran had rejected the proposal.
"Naturally, we do not agree to their request because if there is to be a flight between the two countries, it must be a two-way flight," Chalandari told the Iranian news agency Tasnim.
Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, said that Tehran could agree to the Middle East Airlines evacuation flights "on the condition that they (Lebanese authorities) don't block Iranian flights."
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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