Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization on Saturday banned all flights from and to India and Pakistan due to the spread of new variant of COVID-19.

ICAO spokesman Mohammad Hassan Zibakhsh told IRNA that the decision was made by Iran’s Health Ministry and would be effective from Saturday midnight.

There are no routine flights between Iran and India and flights are operated occasionally, he said, however, connection flights are also prohibited.

Flights to and from 41 countries have already been prohibited by national ICAO and those who want to take flights from and to the countries listed as high risk are required to do coronavirus test in Iran, according to Zibakhsh.

He said that travelers over the age of 8 need to submit a PCR test with 96 hours validity and do another test on arrival.