Emirates suspends flights to Tehran, and the Middle East is alerted to possible threats by Iran

NEW DELHI: Due to the unstable situation in the Middle East, German airline Lufthansa said on Wednesday that it will be suspending flights to Tehran. This choice was made in the context of growing fears of possible Iranian reprisals in the wake of an alleged Israeli airstrike on Iran’s embassy in Syria.
An Iranian news agency temporarily heightened the tensions by announcing on social media that Tehran’s airspace was restricted for military exercises.

Later thereafter, however, the agency withdrew the statement and denied that any such news had been released. The Iranian embassy complex in Syria has been the subject of alleged Israeli warplane assaults since April 1. As a result, nations in the area and the US have been on high alert, anticipating possible Iranian attacks.
Flights to and from Tehran will be suspended by Lufthansa from April 6 until perhaps April 11. “We are continuously monitoring the situation in the Middle East and maintaining close communication with the authorities,” a business spokeswoman said. Lufthansa’s first focus continues to be ensuring the safety of its customers and employees, a company representative told Reuters.
The only Western airlines that operate international flights into Tehran are Lufthansa and its subsidiary Austrian Airlines; Turkish and Middle Eastern airlines mostly serve the area. Austrian Airlines is owned by Lufthansa and operates six weekly direct flights between Vienna and Berlin, according to FlightRadar24 and the airline’s website. There isn’t currently a direct update from any other foreign airlines that fly to Tehran.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, said that Israel “must be punished and it shall be” for the Damascus attack that claimed the lives of seven members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Among them was senior commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi of the Revolutionary Guards’ top foreign arm, the Quds Force.
Although the Pentagon has said that Israel was responsible for the attack on Damascus, Israel, which began a war in the Gaza Strip six months ago against Hamas, which is supported by Iran, has not acknowledged this.