War, tariffs and the Air India crash will cast a shadow over the Paris Air Show as the aerospace industry’s biggest annual gathering opens on Monday.More than 2,400 companies from 48 countries are showing off their hardware at the week-long event at Le Bourget airfield on the outskirts of Paris.The sales rivalry between Airbus and …
War, trade and Air India crash cast cloud over Paris Air Show Read More »
Israel’s unprecedented strikes on its archfoe Iran Friday are a resounding blow for Tehran that has thrown into doubt its ability to respond militarily, analysts said.Israel said it hit 100 targets including Iranian nuclear and military sites in the attack. The airstrikes killed senior figures, among them leaders of the Revolutionary Guards, the armed forces’ chief and top nuclear scientists.Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Israel of a “bitter and painful” fate over the attacks. But analysts say the Islamic republic’s options are limited, after Israel showed itself capable of precisely locating and taking out high-ranking Iranian officials.”This is an intelligence defeat of existential proportions for the Islamic Republic,” said Ali Fathollah-Nejad, director of the Berlin-based Center for Middle East and Global Order (CMEG) think tank.”It exposes the vital vulnerability of the regime’s military and security apparatus and its key infrastructures — including nuclear — as well as its top political and military leadership,” he told AFP.”All this is meant, inter alia, to cripple Tehran’s command and counter-strike capacities.”The United States and other Western countries, along with Israel, accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon.Tehran denies that, but has gradually broken away from its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal it struck with world powers, after the United States pulled out of it.The landmark accord provided Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its atomic programme, but it fell apart after President Donald Trump halted US participation in 2018, during his first term.- Tehran ‘in a bind’ -Western nations in recent days accused Tehran of deliberately escalating its nuclear programme, despite several rounds of US-Iran talks for a new accord. Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation said Thursday it would “significantly” increase production of enriched uranium, after the UN’s nuclear watchdog found Tehran in breach of its obligations.Israel has previously carried out attacks in the Islamic republic, including against military targets in October last year.But Friday’s attacks were unprecedented.”The Israel campaign is sweeping in scope and sophistication,” said Ali Vaez, of the International Crisis Group.”We may still only be in the early stages of a prolonged operation that continues to expand, disrupting Iran’s ability to either formulate or execute a response.”Friday’s strikes killed Iran’s highest-ranking military officer, armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri, and the head of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, Iranian media reported.A senior adviser to Khamenei was also wounded, state television said.Israel hit a key underground nuclear site in Natanz several times, it also said, reporting that most damage was at “surface level”.British intelligence firm Janes said, however, that hitting Natanz will “have almost certainly dealt a significant blow to Iran’s enrichment capabilities and facilities”.Clement Therme, of the Sorbonne University, said that “to retaliate, the regime seems to be in a bind”.”Either it targets US bases in the region and jeopardises its future, or it targets Israel, but we see that its military capabilities are limited,” he said.The Israeli military said Iran launched around 100 drones against it, but its air defences intercepted “most” of them outside Israeli territory.- Iran’s ‘cataclysmic’ economy -Israel, which relies on US diplomatic and military support, carried out the attack despite Trump’s public urging for it to give time for diplomacy.Trump’s Middle East pointman Steve Witkoff had been set to hold a sixth round of talks with Iran on Sunday in Oman.Iran wants a new deal that would ease the sanctions that have battered its economy.A Western diplomat earlier this year described Iran’s economy as “cataclysmic”, saying the country had “a gigantic need for the lifting of sanctions, reforms, a cleanup of the banking system, foreign investments”.Ellie Geranmayeh, an Iran expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the strikes were “designed to kill President Trump’s chances of striking a deal to contain the Iranian nuclear programme”.”It is highly unlikely that in these conditions, Iran will proceed with the Omani-mediated talks scheduled for Sunday,” she added.But, after the strikes, a US official said Washington still hoped the Sunday talks would go ahead.Trump urged Iran to “make a deal, before there is nothing left”, warning of “even more brutal” attacks to come.Vaez said the strategy may not work.”Rather than prompt Iranian concessions it could also lead to a doubling down by Tehran,” he said.”Setbacks could lead Iran to reconstitute their operations with a more determined effort to obtain a nuclear deterrent.”jr-cf-dla-ah/as/rmb
Establishment Republicans have backed Israel’s strikes on Iran, but the crisis is forcing President Donald Trump to walk a political tightrope between the hawks in his base and the isolationists who helped sweep him to power.Trump ran for reelection as a peacemaker who distained the foreign adventures of his predecessors, boasting that he would have little difficulty ending conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.Many Trump followers see Israel’s offensive as the sternest test yet of his “America First” credentials, fearing that he will allow the United States to get dragged into the hostilities.The announcement of strikes was applauded by Mark Levin, a rightwing political analyst and longstanding Trump loyalist, who crowed: “The Iranians are about to get their asses kicked.””They think this is Joe Biden’s administration, that they would get away…. Thank God we have Donald Trump as president of the United States,” he thundered on Fox News.Beyond the government buildings and TV studios of Washington, however, Trump’s Make America Great Again, or MAGA, activists oppose US boots on the ground abroad and warn against shows of support for Israel.- ‘Sticky one for Trump’ -“This is a sticky one for Trump, who has long pledged to end ‘forever wars’ and keep the US away from dangerous foreign entanglements,” Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist, told AFP.”Trump’s America First base is divided. There’s a strong strain of isolationism there, and yet Israel and efforts to tamp down anti-Semitism pull Trump in the other direction.” Levin received blowback from Tucker Carlson, a leading voice on the American far right, who posted on X that his former Fox News colleague was “hyperventilating” to distract from the real goal — regime change in Iran.Secretary of State Marco Rubio, normally a foreign policy hawk, was quick to distance the United States from Israel’s “unilateral” strikes, which hit uranium-enrichment facilities and killed top Iranian military officials.Trump himself had repeatedly insisted that Iran could not be allowed to have nuclear weapons — but made clear before the strikes that he was against military action.He appeared to have changed tack by Friday, with ABC quoting the president describing the attack as “excellent.” That won’t sit well with many of his supporters.Saagar Enjeti, a populist right-wing anchor on the Breaking Points YouTube show, accused Trump of letting down the “America First” isolationists in his base.- ‘Disastrously split’ -“Trump has now praised Israel’s strike, affirmed US material support, and Israeli media is reporting his public opposition was a disinformation campaign to mislead Iran,” he said.”So in other words Trump, not Israel, has made a mockery of all of us wanted to avoid this war.”Charlie Kirk, a pro-Israel online MAGA star and one of Trump’s staunchest allies, went live on his podcast to find out how his pro-Trump audience was reacting to events.”The emails are so largely overwhelmingly against Israel doing this, I’d say it’s probably a 99 to one,” Kirk said.Kirk went on to ask how the “America First” foreign policy doctrine can “stay consistent with this,” before concluding: “This, right now, is going to cause, I think, a major schism in the MAGA online community.”Kirk asked his five million X followers if America should “get involved in Israel’s war against Iran” and almost 90 percent of the 300,000+ people who had responded by Friday morning said no.Fellow MAGA activist Jack Posobiec warned before the strikes that they would “disastrously split” Trump’s coalition. “Trump smartly ran against starting new wars, this is what the swing states voted for,” he said.”The midterms are not far and Congress’ majority is already razor-thin. America First!”
The timing of Israel’s plan to attack Iran was top secret. But Washington pizza delivery trackers guessed something was up before the first bombs fell.About an hour before Iranian state TV first reported loud explosions in Tehran, pizza orders around the Pentagon went through the roof, according to a viral X account claiming to offer “hot intel” on “late-night activity spikes” at the US military headquarters. “As of 6:59 pm ET nearly all pizza establishments nearby the Pentagon have experienced a HUGE surge in activity,” the account “Pentagon Pizza Report” posted on Thursday.Not confining its analysis to pizza, the account noted three hours later that a gay bar near the Pentagon had “abnormally low traffic for a Thursday night,” and said this probably pointed to “a busy night at the Pentagon.”While far from scientific, the Pentagon pizza theory “is not something the internet just made up,” The Takeout, an online site covering restaurants and food trends, noted earlier this year.Pentagon-adjacent pizza joints also got much busier than usual during Israel’s 2024 missile strike on Iran, it said, as there are “a multitude of fast food restaurants in the Pentagon complex, but no pizza places.”Pizza deliveries to the Pentagon reportedly doubled right before the US invasion of Panama in December 1989, and surged again before Operation Desert Storm in 1991.President Donald Trump told The Wall Street Journal he was fully aware in advance of the bombing campaign, which Israel says is needed to end Iran’s nuclear program. “We know what’s going on.”For the rest of Americans, pepperoni pie activity was not the only way to tell something was about to happen.Washington had already announced it was moving some diplomats and their families out of the Middle East on Wednesday.And close to an hour before Israel unleashed its firepower on Iran, the US ambassador in Jerusalem, Mike Huckabee, sent out a rather revealing X post: “At our embassy in Jerusalem and closely monitoring the situation. We will remain here all night. ‘Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!'”
French President Emmanuel Macron, who on Friday defended Israel’s right to protect itself, spoke by phone to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following a spike in diplomatic tensions, the Elysee said.The French presidency said the phone conversation took place but did not specify the content of the exchange with the Israeli leader.Relations between Macron and Netanyahu have been strained in recent months over Israel’s blockade of Gaza and France’s plans to recognise a Palestinian state.Israel pounded Iran in a series of air raids, striking 100 targets including nuclear and military sites as well as killing the armed forces’ chief of staff.In the aftermath of the strikes, Macron also spoke with leaders including US President Donald Trump and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.France and Saudi Arabia have been planning to co-chair a UN conference on a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians next week in New York.Macron was expected to speak on the issue on Friday, but his speech was cancelled. Instead, he will address reporters Friday evening.Earlier Friday, Macron said Israel had the right to defend itself and ensure its security but also called for de-escalation.”To avoid jeopardising the stability of the entire region, I call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and to de-escalate,” he said on X.Macron spoke after convening a meeting of the National Defence and Security Council.”All necessary steps will be taken to protect our nationals and our diplomatic and military missions in the region,” Macron said.France’s foreign minister also urged restraint.”We call on all sides to exercise restraint and avoid any escalation that could undermine regional stability,” Jean-Noel Barrot said on X.Iran has gradually broken away from its commitments under the nuclear deal it struck with world powers including the United States and France in 2015.The landmark deal provided Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its atomic programme, but it fell apart after the unilateral withdrawal of the United States during Trump’s first term in 2018.
Iran called Israel’s wave of strikes on Friday a declaration of war, while US President Donald Trump warned Tehran of “even more brutal” attacks if it does not make a deal on its nuclear programme.Israel said its air strikes had killed several top Iranian generals, including most of the senior leadership of the Revolutionary Guards’ air force, while hitting about 100 targets including nuclear facilities.Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Israel it faced a “bitter and painful” fate over the attacks, while Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the attack as a “declaration of war” and President Masoud Pezeshkian said “Iran will make the enemy regret its foolish act”.The Israeli military said Iran launched around 100 drones in response, with air defences intercepting them outside Israeli territory, while neighbouring Jordan said it targeted drones and missiles that violated its airspace.In the attack’s wake, Trump urged Iran on Friday to “make a deal”, warning of “even more brutal” attacks to come.The United States underlined that it was not involved in the Israeli action and warned Iran not to attack its personnel or interests, but Tehran said Washington would be “responsible for consequences”.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel struck at the “heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme”, taking aim at nuclear scientists and the main uranium enrichment facility in Natanz.The strikes would “continue as many days as it takes”, the Israeli premier said, while the military said intelligence showed Iran was approaching the “point of no return” on its nuclear programme.The strikes killed Iran’s highest-ranking military officer, armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri, and the head of the Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, Iranian media reported.- ‘Clear message’ -Khamenei swiftly appointed new commanders to replace those killed, while state media said a senior adviser to the supreme leader had himself been wounded.”The senior chain of command of the air force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had assembled in an underground command centre to prepare for an attack on the State of Israel,” the Israeli military said, adding that its attacks had killed most of them.Iran confirmed the Guards aerospace commander had been killed, along with “a group of brave and dedicated fighters”.Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the “precise targeting of senior commanders… sends a strong and clear message: those who work toward Israel’s destruction will be eliminated”.AFP images showed a gaping hole in the side of a Tehran residential building that appeared to have sustained a targeted and localised strike.State media said civilians were killed, without providing an exact figure, while an emergency services official said 95 people had been wounded.Tasnim news agency said six nuclear scientists were among the dead.Later Friday, the UN Security Council said it would hold an emergency meeting at 3:00 pm (1900 GMT).The meeting was requested by Iran, and supported by Russia and China, a diplomatic source told AFP.- ‘Scathing response’ -Tehran’s streets were deserted except for queues at petrol stations, a familiar sight in times of crisis.”How much longer are we going to live in fear?” asked Ahmad Moadi, a 62-year-old retiree. “As an Iranian, I believe there must be an overwhelming response, a scathing response.”Air traffic was halted at Tehran’s main gateway, Imam Khomeini International Airport, while Iraq, Jordan and Syria closed their airspace.Israel declared a state of emergency as anxieties grew amid a wave of uncertainty gripping the region.”I’m worried for my children, and also about my livelihood, because this affects the market. You can’t work, you can’t do anything,” Tel Aviv resident Vered Saar told AFP.Netanyahu on Friday said he expected “several waves of Iranian attacks”.Israel’s military also began deploying reservists “to all combat arenas throughout the country” to prepare for “defence and offence”. Oil prices surged while stocks sank on the Israeli strikes, which came after Trump’s warning of a “massive conflict” in the region.Trump had also said the United States was drawing down staff in the Middle East, after Iran had threatened to target US military bases in the region if conflict broke out.Prior to the strikes, Trump said he believed a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme was “fairly close”, cautioning however that an Israeli attack on its arch foe could wreck the chances of an agreement.- ‘Within reach’ -With the violence raising questions on whether a sixth round of talks planned between the US and Iran would go ahead on Sunday in Oman, Trump said Washington was “hoping to get back to the negotiating table”.Confirming Natanz had been among Israel’s targets, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said radiation levels outside the site “remained unchanged”.”Most of the damage is on the surface level,” said the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran’s spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi.Fawaz Gerges, a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics, said: “I think Israel has declared all-out war against Iran.”The United States and other Western governments have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, an ambition it has consistently denied.Israel again called for global action after the IAEA accused Iran on Thursday of non-compliance with its obligations.The agency later said it would hold an extraordinary meeting of its board of governors in the coming days. Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set by a largely moribund 2015 agreement with major powers, but still short of the 90 percent threshold needed for a nuclear warhead.
When US President Donald Trump publicly implored Israel not to attack Iran, he declared, once again, that his goal was to be a peacemaker.Hours later on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — one of Trump’s closest international allies — unleashed a major military campaign described as a “preemptive” strike against Iran’s nuclear program.The attack marks the latest setback for Trump’s lofty goal set out at the start of his second term of being a “man of peace.”Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom Trump has also boasted a warm relationship, has rebuffed his overtures for a ceasefire with Ukraine.And Israel resumed another massive offensive in Gaza after talks bogged down on extending a ceasefire with Hamas reached with Trump’s support at the end of his predecessor Joe Biden’s term.Trump’s friend and roving envoy Steve Witkoff — who has negotiated in all three crises — had been set to meet Iranian officials again Sunday in Oman.Trump later was careful not to distance himself from Israel, where some sources sought to suggest that the public US statements were meant to catch Iran off guard.In successive social media posts, Trump said that Iran had failed to accept his terms and that the attack came one day after a 60-day deadline he had issued, although that did not explain why Witkoff had still scheduled talks with Iran.Trump separately has repeatedly hailed US diplomacy that helped reach a ceasefire last month between India and Pakistan as a triumph, saying he averted nuclear war.- ‘It would blow it’ -Before Israel launched its operation, Trump said: “I don’t want them going in, because I think it would blow it.”Netanyahu has described Iran’s cleric-run government, which backs Hamas, as an existential threat and already last year ordered strikes that knocked out its air defenses.”We’ve clearly seen a fork in the road in the American and Israeli approaches to this problem set,” said Dana Stroul, a former senior Pentagon official who is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.”These strikes are going to disrupt and delay and degrade Iran’s nuclear program. The question, I think, is whether or not the United States and Israel in the future are going to work together on what to do to maximize the time that’s put back on the clock,” she said.Stroul noted that rifts had been building between Israel and Trump, who last month agreed to remove sanctions on Syria after former Islamist guerrilla Ahmed al-Sharaa swept into power.Trump embraced the new Syrian leader after appeals on a tour of Gulf Arab monarchies — which have also backed diplomacy on Iran.In Qatar last month, Trump said after meeting the emir that he believed a deal was in sight with Iran and that there would be no “nuclear dust” over the region.- ‘Reckless escalation’ – Despite growing disagreements, Israel enjoys robust support in Trump’s right-wing base.The Trump administration in recent days has again taken lonely positions to back Israel, with the United States casting one of the only votes at the UN General Assembly against a Gaza ceasefire resolution and criticizing top allies, including Britain, for imposing sanctions on far-right Israeli ministers.Justin Logan, director of defense and foreign policy at the libertarian Cato Institute, said the Israeli attack will “destroy US diplomatic efforts” on Iran and called for Trump to reject any US military role in protecting Israel from retaliation.”Israel has the right to choose its own foreign policy. At the same time, it has the responsibility to bear the costs of that policy,” he said.But lawmakers in Trump’s Republican Party quickly rallied behind Israel. Senator Tom Cotton said that the United States should “back Israel to the hilt, all the way,” and topple Iran’s Islamic Republic if it targets US troops.Trump’s Democratic rivals, who mostly backed his diplomacy on Iran, were aghast at Israel’s action ahead of new US-Iran talks.”Israel’s alarming decision to launch airstrikes on Iran is a reckless escalation that risks igniting regional violence,” said Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Forces Committee.
World leaders urged restraint on Friday after Israel pounded Iran, striking 100 targets including nuclear and military sites, and killing senior figures. Here is a roundup of key reactions:- ‘Cannot have nuclear bomb’: United States – “There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end,” US President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform, adding that Israel has a lot of weapons thanks to the United States and “they know how to use it”.Earlier in the day, Trump told Fox News that “Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table.”- ‘Maximum restraint’: UN -UN chief Antonio Guterres asked “both sides to show maximum restraint, avoiding at all costs a descent into deeper conflict, a situation that the region can hardly afford,” according to a spokesperson.Guterres was “particularly concerned” by Israel’s strikes on nuclear installations amid the ongoing US-Iran negotiations.- ‘Unacceptable’ and ‘unprovoked’: Russia -“Russia is concerned and condemns the sharp escalation of tensions,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state news agencies, calling the strikes “unacceptable” and “unprovoked”, while the Russian embassy in Tel Aviv urged Russians in Israel to leave the country.- ‘Deeply worried’: China -“The Chinese side… is deeply worried about the severe consequences that such actions might bring,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said, calling “on relevant parties to take actions that promote regional peace and stability and to avoid further escalation of tensions”.- ‘Diplomacy best path forward’: EU -“The situation in the Middle East is dangerous. I urge all parties to exercise restraint and prevent further escalation. Diplomacy remains the best path forward, and I stand ready to support any diplomatic efforts toward de-escalation,” said EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. – ‘Right to defend itself’ : France -“France reaffirms Israel’s right to defend itself and ensure its security,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in English on X, calling “on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and to de-escalate” and “avoid jeopardising the stability of the entire region”.- Avoid ‘further escalation’: Germany -Germany, which for years expressed concerns about Iran’s “advanced nuclear weapons programme”, said it was “ready to use all diplomatic means at our disposal to influence the parties to the conflict. The goal must remain that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons”.- ‘Dangerous escalation’: Hamas -“This aggression constitutes a dangerous escalation that threatens to destabilise the region,” said the Iran-backed, Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose October 2023 attack on Israel sparked the Gaza war.- Threaten to ‘ignite the region’ : Hezbollah -Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, long seen as the Iran-led axis’s most powerful group, said of Israel: “This enemy adheres to no logic or laws and knows only the language of killing, fire, and destruction,” adding that the “brutal” strike threatened to “ignite the region”.- ‘Threat to international peace’: Iraq -Iraq strongly condemned the attacks, saying: “This act represents a blatant violation of the fundamental principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, and constitutes a serious threat to international peace and security.”- No ‘battleground’: Jordan -“Jordan has not and will not allow any violation of its airspace, reaffirming that the Kingdom will not be a battleground for any conflict,” a government spokesperson told AFP after Jordan closed its airspace.- ‘Dangerous approach’: Oman -Nuclear talks mediator Oman said “calls on the international community to adopt a clear and firm position to put an end to this dangerous approach, which threatens to rule out diplomatic solutions and jeopardise the security and stability of the region”.- ‘Strong condemnation’: Qatar -Gaza mediator Qatar expressed “its strong condemnation and denunciation of the Israeli attack,” the Gulf state’s foreign ministry said, adding that the “dangerous escalation threatens security and stability of the region and hinders efforts to de-escalate and reach diplomatic solutions”.- ‘Aggressive actions’: Turkey -“Israel’s attacks on our neighbor Iran are a clear provocation that disregards international law,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a vocal critic of Israel and a fervent advocate of the Palestinian cause, urging the international community to “put an end to Israeli banditry”.- ‘Reduce tensions urgently’: UK -British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “The reports of these strikes are concerning and we urge all parties to step back and reduce tensions urgently. Escalation serves no one in the region.”- ‘Legitimate right to defend itself’: Yemen’s Huthis -Tehran-backed Huthi rebels said they backed “Iran’s full and legitimate right to… develop its nuclear programme” and that “we strongly condemn the brutal Israeli aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran and affirm its full and legitimate right to respond by all possible means”.burs-djt/giv
Global airlines on Friday cancelled flights to Tel Aviv, Tehran and other Middle East destinations, or rerouted planes, as airspaces shut following Israeli strikes on Iran.Israel, Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Syria closed their airspaces after Israel hit military and nuclear facilities in Iran. Israel said Tehran launched drones in retaliation.Air India’s New Delhi-Vienna and Mumbai-London flights were about to enter Iranian airspace when Israel launched its attack, forcing the planes to turn back to their origin, according to aircraft tracker Flight Aware.Its London-New Delhi flight had just entered Iranian airspace and was rerouted over Iraq before arriving in India one hour late, according to Flight Aware.Air India diverted or called back a total of 16 flights between India and London and cities in Canada and the United States “due to the emerging situation in Iran”.Emirates, the Middle East’s largest airline, cancelled flights to and from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Iran after Israel launched the strikes.Qatar Airways, the country’s national carrier and one of the Middle East’s largest, said it had “temporarily cancelled flights to Iran and Iraq due to (the) current situation in the region”.Air France said it was suspending its flights to and from Tel Aviv “until further notice” following the closure of Israeli airspace.”Air France is closely monitoring the situation in the Middle East in real time,” a spokesman for the French airline told AFP, adding that “the safety of its customers and crews is its absolute priority”.Russia’s aviation authority Rosaviatsiya instructed Russian airlines not to fly “in the airspace of Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Iran” or use airports in Israel and Iran.It said the restrictions will stay in place until June 26 or until further notice.German airline group Lufthansa suspended flights to and from Tehran until July 31. It also extended the suspension of Tel Aviv flights for the same period.Swiss airline, which is owned by Lufthansa, suspended its Tel Aviv flights until October 25 while those to Beirut were suspended until the end of July.In the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi airport warned “flight disruptions are expected through today (Friday)” as a result of the Israeli strikes.Dubai’s airport also announced flight delays and cancellations due to the closure of airspaces in Iran, Iraq and Syria.
