Jordan – Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan announced the temporary closure of their airspace to all incoming, departing and transiting aircraft, while Israel became on high alert following announcing an Iranian attack with dozens of drones.
The media office of the Lebanese Ministry of Public Works and Transport stated – in a statement – that “in view of the developments taking place in the region, and out of concern for the safety and security of Lebanese airspace, it was closed to all aircraft arriving, departing and crossing Lebanese airspace, temporarily and precautionarily, as of one o’clock in the morning.” Today, Sunday, until seven o’clock this morning.”
Iraqi Transport Minister Razzaq Al-Saadawi also told the official news agency that “Iraqi airspace has been closed and air traffic has stopped.” The Civil Aviation Authority said that the outage will last from 11:30 pm on Saturday until 5:30 am on Sunday.
For its part, the Civil Aviation Regulatory Authority in Jordan announced, on Saturday evening, that the Kingdom had decided to temporarily close its airspace to all incoming, departing and crossing aircraft, “in light of the escalation of surrounding risks in the region.”
In the same context, Minister of Government Communications and official spokesman for the government, Muhannad Al-Mubaideen, denied the allegations made regarding declaring a state of emergency in the Kingdom.
The minister said, in a statement to the Jordanian News Agency (Petra), that everything that was reported by some media outlets regarding declaring a state of emergency in Jordan is completely untrue.
Reuters reported that a Jordanian source confirmed to the official “Al-Mamlaka” channel that a state of emergency had been declared in all governorates.
The channel quoted an unnamed source as confirming, “Declaring a state of emergency in all governorates of Jordan, following the decision to temporarily close the airspace to incoming, departing and crossing aircraft.”
Reuters also quoted two security sources in the region that Jordanian air defenses are ready to intercept and shoot down any Iranian drones or planes that violate the airspace.
These two sources added that the army is also on high alert, and that radar systems are monitoring drone activity.
In the same context, the Israeli airline El Al said that it had canceled 15 flights scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, while closing the airspace as a precautionary measure.
The company added – in a statement – that the foreign destinations affected by the decision include Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Milan, Bucharest, Sofia, Athens, Dubai and Moscow.
For its part, Iran announced, on Saturday evening, the launch of a comprehensive attack on Israel using drones.
State television said that the Revolutionary Guards had begun an air operation with drones once morest targets in the occupied territories, while the Israeli army announced that Iran had launched a drone attack.
The Iranian attack comes in response to the exposure of the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, at the beginning of this April, to an Israeli missile attack, which resulted in the killing of 7 members of the Revolutionary Guard, including prominent General Mohammad Reza Zahedi.
On the other hand, Reuters reported – from military sources – that Syria had placed Russian-made Pantsir ground-to-air defense systems around the capital, Damascus, and the main bases were on high alert in anticipation of an Israeli strike.
These sources added that they expect Israel to direct its retaliation once morest army bases and facilities where armed groups loyal to Iran are stationed.
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2024-04-14 16:52:34
