2 days ago
Iranian Government Aircraft Make Mysterious Dash To Oman
Iran's primary presidential plane and two other government airliners have touched down in the Omani capital Muscat. The highly unusual arrivals come amid reports that the regime in Tehran is looking to negotiate an end to the ongoing conflict with Israel, as well as growing speculation that the United States may be about to directly enter the fighting in a major way.
Where exactly the Iranian aircraft, a pair of Airbus A321s and an Airbus A340, originally departed from is unclear. The trio of aircraft used the callsigns JJ25, JJ26, and JJ28. At the time of writing, there has been no official word about the purpose of the flights or who might be on them.
The 3 aircraft that have left Iran and landed in Muscat, Oman are 2 x A321 and 1 x A340.
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) June 18, 2025
שלושה מטוסים ממשלתיים של איראן המריאו בשעה האחרונה מדרום המדינה ונחתו במסקט בירת עומאן. אחד מהם הוא המטוס הנשיאותי, אשר שימש עד לאחרונה את הנשיא מסעוד פזשכיאן. מטרת הטיסה לא ברורה: האם הגיעו לשיחות תיווך בעומאן, או שמא מולטו מן המדינה ועליהם נוסעים.
— avi scharf (@avischarf) June 18, 2025
Publicly available air traffic control recordings suggest that a fourth aircraft from Iran may be inbound to Muscat. However, there does not appear to be any clear indication of this yet from available online flight tracking data.
Per @liveatc JJ25 advising Muscat Ground that there are going to be a total of four aircraft coming from Iran? What's going on?
— Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) June 18, 2025
As noted, the Iranian A340, which carries the Iranian registration code EP-IGA, has been used to transport Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in the past, including to the United States for the main annual United Nations General Assembly meeting last year.
Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) used the Airbus A340-313X aircraft (Serial 5-8405, registration EP-IGA) to carry the Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to the New York's John F. Kennedy aircraft (MSN:257) was part of the fleet of Air Canada (C-GDVV),…
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) September 23, 2024
There are several possible reasons for the arrival of the Iranian aircraft in Oman.
A major Iranian delegation could have arrived in Muscat for new negotiations around ending the current conflict with Israel. Iran and Oman have solid diplomatic ties, and the latter has often served as an intermediary between the regime in Tehran and the West. Oman had just recently been facilitating talks between the United States and Iran over the latter country's nuclear ambitions.
Iran has been reportedly reaching out to foreign partners about the possibility of a deal to end the current crisis, though publicly the regime in Tehran remains defiant in the face of ongoing Israeli strikes.
'They want to negotiate. I ask: why didn't they negotiate two weeks ago,' U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters today, while also raising the prospect of an Iranian delegation visiting the White House. 'It is very late to be talking.'
Trump on the Iranians: "they even suggested to come to the White House"Says it's "very late" to be talking, "there's a big difference between now and a week ago" (these bits are in a different clip)
— Gregg Carlstrom (@glcarlstrom) June 18, 2025
'I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do,' Trump also said when asked about whether the U.S. military might begin to launch its own strikes on Iran.
When asked it the US would strike Iran's nuclear facilities, Trump said: 'I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do"Trump also asked what his message is to the Supreme Leader of Iran and said: 'I say good luck.'
— Selina Wang (@selinawangtv) June 18, 2025
There remains no clear evidence of American forces taking a new offensive role in the conflict, though a major U.S. build-up is continuing, as you can read more about here. Online flight tracking data today did show two U.S. Air Force KC-135 aerial refueling tankers flying eastward over Israel and then up along the Jordanian-Iraqi border, the purpose of which is also unclear.
Pair of tankers working just south of the Syrian border over Jordan.
KC-135R 58-0069 #AE04F6
KC-135R 63-7985 #
— Evergreen Intel (@vcdgf555) June 18, 2025
Two U.S.
KC-135R Stratotanker planes are flying over Israel
.
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) June 18, 2025
In response to Trump's remarks, Iran's mission to the United Nations made a post on X publicly rejecting the possibility of a White House visit and negotiations while 'under duress.' Israeli authorities have also rejected talk of a diplomatic resolution to the current conflict.
Iran mission to UN not surprisingly rejects Trump's apparent idea for the Iranians to come to the White House
— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) June 18, 2025
If the Iranian aircraft touching down in Oman are not tied to a diplomatic mission, they could also be carrying individuals seeking to escape the current conflict. Israel has notably been striking Iran's capital Tehran, as well as other locations across western Iran, with virtual impunity for days now.
Similarly, the movement of the aircraft could be about keeping them safe from expanding Israeli strikes on Iranian air bases in the event that they might be called upon to help senior regime officials evacuate in the future. As an interesting comparative case, during the Gulf War in 1991, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ordered much of his country's air force to flee to neighboring Iran, despite the historical enmity between the two regimes, to escape destruction by the U.S.-led coalition.
A number of Iranian airliners, including ones belonging to Mahan Air and Fars Air Qeshm, which have been linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), were previously tracked leaving Tehran over the weekend. As TWZ noted at the time, those flights were already risky given Israeli air activity.
Out of Tehran now
— Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (BlueSky too) (@Archer83Able) June 14, 2025
Fars Air QeshmBoeing 747-281F#
— 360°Radar (@wipljw) June 14, 2025
TWZ has reached out to the White House and the U.S. State Department for additional information. In response to our queries, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) also directed us to contact the White House.
With Iran's main presidential plane and other government-operated airliners now in Oman, more details about why they have made the trip may now begin to emerge.
Howard Altman contributed to this story.
Contact the author: joe@
