Over 20 passenger planes damaged in US-Israeli attacks, Iranian official says

More than 20 passenger planes were significantly damaged in Iran during attacks by the US and Israel, the country’s airlines association said Sunday.

Maqsoud Asadi Samani, chief of the Iranian Airlines Association, said reports suggesting that between 40 and 60 aircraft were damaged “do not reflect reality,” according to Iranian media.

He said no more than 20 passenger planes sustained major damage.

About 95% of Iran’s airport capacity was not affected by the attacks, he added.

Samani said Iran has between 250 and 300 passenger planes, of which about 150 were in service before the attacks, while the rest were grounded for technical reasons.

“After removing the damaged aircraft, we now have 130 active planes,” he said.

The US and Israel launched military operations against Iran on Feb. 28 that have killed more than 3,300 people before Washington and Tehran announced a two-week truce on April 8 mediated by Pakistan.

The two sides are preparing for a second round of talks in Islamabad on Tuesday after an earlier round on April 12 ended without an agreement.