Iran will resume some foreign flights from Tehran on Saturday, according to Tasnim News Agency — a development that carries significant diplomatic and market implications even as the second round of US-Iran talks in Islamabad remains in a state of uncertainty with Pakistan still awaiting Tehran’s formal response.
The flight resumption is the most concrete operational signal yet that Iran is preparing for some form of de-escalation, even if the formal diplomatic track has not produced a confirmed second round of negotiations.
What the Flight Resumption Signals
Iranian airspace has been restricted or closed to international commercial operations since the outbreak of the US-Iran war on February 28, 2026 — a period of nearly two months during which Iran Air suspended scheduled international services and foreign carriers avoided Iranian airspace due to the conflict risk. The resumption of some foreign flights from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport on Saturday is not a trivial operational decision. It requires the assessment that the airspace is sufficiently safe for commercial aviation — which implicitly means Iran’s military and civil aviation authorities believe the immediate risk of US or Israeli strikes on or around Tehran has reduced to an acceptable level.
This assessment, if it holds, is itself a form of confidence building. Countries do not resume international commercial flights when they believe imminent air strikes are coming. The flight resumption is Iran’s clearest behavioural signal yet that it believes the ceasefire extension — which Trump announced early Wednesday at Pakistan’s request — is holding in operational terms even as the diplomatic confirmation of a second round remains pending.
The Connection to the Talks
Pakistani official sources confirmed earlier on Friday that there is a “state of uncertainty” regarding the second round of US-Iran talks, with Islamabad still awaiting Iran’s response. Iran has publicly maintained it will not attend Wednesday’s talks, and the Tasnim confirmation of flight resumption comes from the same semi-official Iranian news channel — suggesting the two pieces of information come from the same Iranian government communications environment.
Reading them together: Iran is not formally confirming the second round of talks, but it is resuming international flights — an action consistent with a government that has made an internal decision to reduce military posture even without publicly committing to the diplomatic track. It is the kind of de-escalation signal that arrives through actions rather than statements when direct diplomatic communication is politically difficult.
The unified proposal that Trump demanded as the condition for holding the US military attack — requiring Iran’s various power centres to align internally — may be taking shape not through a formal diplomatic announcement but through a series of operational signals of which the flight resumption is the most visible.
Market and India Implications
Iran Air had previously announced the resumption of domestic flights from Saturday — a Mashhad service from Tehran was scheduled as the first domestic route back. The addition of some international flights from Tehran significantly extends the normalisation signal and will be read positively by crude oil markets heading into Saturday.
Brent crude, which has climbed back toward $106 per barrel this week on sustained Iran war uncertainty, will face downward pressure when Asian markets open Monday if the weekend produces both flight resumptions and any diplomatic progress on the second round talks. For India — which has been absorbing the full impact of elevated crude through rupee weakness, OMC margin pressure and inflationary energy costs — any sustainable de-escalation signal from Tehran is directly relevant to the rupee, the current account and the RBI’s policy space.
The Indian Embassy in Tehran issued an advisory on April 23 strongly advising Indian citizens not to travel to Iran and directing those present to leave via designated land border routes. The flight resumption will be monitored by MEA as a potential signal that the advisory’s urgency level can be revised — though the Embassy is unlikely to update its guidance until the diplomatic picture clarifies further.
Business Upturn will continue monitoring developments from Tehran, Islamabad and Washington through the weekend.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. Geopolitical situations are subject to rapid change. Readers are advised to follow official government communications for the most current verified information.