PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s first commercial flight in seven months took off Thursday from the capital and headed to the northern city of Cap-Haitien, where excited passengers hoped to reunite with friends, relatives and business associates.
The Sunrise Airways flight of 19 passengers was the first such flight departing from Port-au-Prince since gang violence halted the airport's operations in November. So far, only domestic flights are resuming, with no timetable yet for international ones.
“It’s been over a year since I’ve traveled,” James Jean-Charles said. “The country is infested with gangs. You can’t go by road.”
Jean-Charles, 41, smiled wide when he explained he was going to visit his parents and cousins in the coastal city after struggling to stay in touch with them via phone because of poor connectivity.
Inside the Guy Malary terminal, which is used for domestic flights, people gathered around a restaurant serving coffee, goat, chicken and plantains.
Awaiting Sunrise Airway’s second flight of the day was Garry Jean-Pierre, a computer technician.
“I finally found a way to get there and not lose the contracts I had,” he said of his upcoming trip to Cap-Haitien.
It’s been a year since he last visited, but it never crossed his mind to travel by road, where gang members are known to open fire randomly on vehicles.
“I would not take the risk,” he said. “You don’t know when they’ll decide to kill.”
Outside the Guy Malary terminal, the parking lot was packed with cars as workers hauled luggage and men working in the black market exchanged U.S. dollars and Haitian gourdes.
“This is very good,” said taxi driver Marc Jean-Baptiste as he observed people bustling. “I couldn’t properly care for my family.”
He said he hoped that international flights to Port-au-Prince would restart soon, but that’s unlikely to happen.
The Toussaint Louverture airport in Port-au-Prince closed in mid-November for the second time last year after gangs opened fire on a Spirit Airlines flight as it prepared to land, striking a flight attendant who suffered minor injuries.
Other commercial planes were hit that day, prompting Spirit, JetBlue and American Airlines to cancel their flights to Port-au-Prince. None of those flights have resumed.
While the main international airport reopened in December, there were no commercial flights operating until Thursday.
The resumption of domestic flights marks a rare success in Haiti’s fight against gangs that control at least 85% of Port-au-Prince.
A powerful gang federation previously forced the main international airport to close for nearly three months in early 2024.
A police officer stands guard at the Guy Malary Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Passengers arrive for departing flights at the Guy Malary Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, June 12, 2025.(AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Passengers wait to board a Sunrise Airways plane at the Guy Malary Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
