LOS ANGELES – The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) org is closely monitoring the evolving situation in the Middle East and surrounding areas, according to the official website of ICANN. 

The ICANN85 meeting in Mumbai will proceed as planned. However, we understand that there are Board, community members, and staff who may feel uncomfortable traveling under the current circumstances. As with all ICANN Public Meetings, remote participation is available, and we encourage anyone who is uncomfortable traveling to take advantage of that option.

Airspace closures are reported in Iran, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the UAE. This has effectively blocked transit corridors for many delegates traveling to Mumbai for ICANN85. ICANN org staff and our travel vendor, AmTrav, are proactively contacting all funded travelers whose itineraries originate from or transit through the affected locations and are working with our travel partner to reroute travel, as needed.

We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates.