Iran airspace appears to reopen after temporary closure amid ongoing protests

Iran appeared to reopen its airspace on Thursday after a sudden overnight closure disrupted flights across the region, although airlines largely continued to avoid the country amid heightened security warnings and lingering regional tensions.

The nighttime closure lasted about five hours after a notice to air missions, or NOTAM, was issuedaccording to the aviation risk monitoring site Safe Airspace.

Safe Airspace warns that the main danger to civil aircraft in Iranian airspace is misidentification by air defense systems during times of heightened tensions, currently assessing the overall risk level at “One: Do Not Fly.”

Trump says the US will take “very strong action” against Iran if the regime starts hanging protesters.

Empty airspace above Iran is visible in this screenshot from FlightRadar24 on January 15, 2026, amid heightened tensions and concerns over possible military action between the United States and Iran. (FlightRadar24.com/Handout via REUTERS)

President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday that he had been informed that the killings of protesters in Iran were “stopping.”

“We have been informed very strongly, but we will find out what it all means. But we have been told that the massacres in Iran are stopping,” he said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., disagreed with Trump, writing on

“The death toll is rising by the hour. I hope help will arrive,” he wrote.

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Iranians take part in an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, January 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

The American news agency Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which follows human rights violations in Iran, said on Wednesday that nationwide protests continued into the eighteenth day as authorities maintained a near-total internet blackout.

The group’s cumulative figures show 617 protest rallies in 187 cities across the country, the arrest of at least 18,470 people and the confirmed deaths of 2,615 people.

HRANA said 2,435 of those killed were protesters, including 13 children under the age of 18.

Top Iranian official downplays death toll, blames ‘Israeli plot’ as US considers strikes

Cars burn on a street during a protest against the collapse of the currency value in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. (Stringer/West Asia News Agency via REUTERS)

Trump has threatened action against the regime, warning Tehran in several Truth Social publications to stop killing its population.

“We are locked, loaded and ready to go,” he wrote on New Year’s Day.

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The president said Tuesday he had canceled all meetings with Iranian officials and called on protesters to “TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!”

“Keep the names of the killers and attackers. They will pay a heavy price,” Trump wrote, adding: “HELP IS ON THE WAY.”