Turkey has suspended all flights to Iran until further notice amid a coronavirus outbreak, a spokesman for Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, Reza Jafarzadeh, said on Sunday.
The suspension of flights had begun on Saturday, Jafarzadeh said, according to the official IRNA news agency.
Turkey first suspended flights to and from Iran on 26 February due to the outbreak of the coronavirus and closure of borders between the two sides.
Iran has been one of the hardest-hit countries by the pandemic in the region and the decision by the Turkish aviation authority came as the number of deaths and infections rose again in Iran.
The coronavirus has killed 209 more patients in Iran over the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry’s spokeswoman said Sunday.
Speaking at a daily press conference in Tehran, Sima Sadat Lari put the death toll from COVID-19 in Iran at 14,188, saying the disease has taken the lives of 209 people over the past 24 hours.
She said the total number of people tested positive for COVID-19 in the country has risen to 273,656 following the detection of 2,182 new cases since Saturday.
A screenshot from the Istanbul Airport website shows all flights from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport have been cancelled.
Iran's national flag carrier Iran Air, however, was given necessary permits by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of Turkey to fly to Istanbul last week. The ailiner performed its first flight from Imam Khomeini International Airport to Istanbul on 13 July.
Two other Iranian airlines, Meraj Airlines and Iran Airtour, operated weekly Istanbul-Tabriz-Istanbul flights.
Only Turkish citizens and those who hold work visas were allowed to travel to Turkey.