Austrian Airlines cancels Tehran flights over security

Austrian Airlines said it was cancelling its flight to Tehran on Friday, two days after a passenger plane crashed in Iran killing all 176 people on board.

The airline said its action was "due to the latest reports and the changed assessment of the security situation for the airspace around Tehran airport".

Thursday's flight to Tehran was ordered to return to Vienna after a stopover in Sofia, the statement added.

The airline's move came after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said intelligence sources indicated Iran had shot down the Ukrainian airliner, possibly accidentally.

Read: Iranian missiles could have shot down Ukraine flight by mistake, report US sources

Read: Iran invites Boeing, Ukraine to join probe into plane crash that killed 176

Iran fired ballistic missiles at bases housing US troops in Iraq early on Wednesday in retaliation for the US assassination of Iran's most powerful general, Qasem Soleiman.

Several airlines had already said they would avoid Iranian and Iraqi airspace.

Lufthansa -- the parent company of Austrian -- said its flight between Frankfurt and Tehran on Thursday had returned an hour after takeoff because of security concerns. 

Image Credits: ANI