By Trade Arabia

Gulf Air, bahrain's national carrier, yesterday welcomed comments by the head of Iran's Civil Aviation Authority that the airline's flights to the country could resume soon.

Hamid Reza Pahlevani said direct services between the countries were subject to "reciprocal permission" being granted to Iran's national carrier.

"The airline understands that this request has been approved by Bahrain's Civil Aviation Affairs, as per the terms of a bilateral agreement between the two countries," said a Gulf Air statement.

The airline is now "looking forward to launching services as soon as possible," the statement added.

TradeArabia earlier reported that Bahrain's national carrier had postponed flights to Iran pending approval from civil aviation authorities there.

It is understood Gulf Air plans to resume services to Tehran, Mashhad, Shiraz and Isfahan early next year.

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