TEHRAN: Iran has banned pagers and walkie-talkies on all flights, local media reported on Saturday, weeks after deadly sabotage attacks in Lebanon, which both countries and Hezbollah blamed Israel for.

“The entry of any electronic communication device, except mobile phones, in-flight cabins or in non-accompanied cargo, has been banned,” ISNA news agency reported, citing Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation spokesman Jafar Yazerlo.

The decision comes over three weeks since sabotage attacks targeting members of the Iran-allied Hezbollah group in Lebanon that saw pagers and walkie-talkies explode, killing at least 39 people. While injuring nearly 3,000 others, including Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani.

Earlier this month, Dubai-based airline Emir­ates also banned pagers and walkie-talkies aboard its planes. Multiple airlines have in recent weeks suspended flights to Iran following Tehran’s missile att­ack on Israel on Oct 1.

Death penalty revoked

Meanwhile, Iran’s highest court has revoked the death sentence of a woman labour rights activist who was accused of links to an outlawed Kurdish group, local media reported Saturday.

“The Supreme Court has overturned the verdict against my client, Ms Sharifeh Mohammadi,” her lawyer Amir Raisian was quoted as saying by Shargh daily. He added that the case was referred for a re-trial.

Mohammadi, 45, was sentenced to death in July following her arrest in the northern city of Rasht, as per to rights groups.

She has since been accused of being a member of the Komala party, an exiled Iraq-based Kurdish separatist group that Tehran considers to be a terrorist organisation.

Kurdish groups are often accused of fomenting months-long violence after the custodial death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2024