Iranian authorities warned Egyptian airlines not to fly over its airspace early Thursday morning due to “military maneuvers.” Israel expects retaliation from Iran for the attacks.
Follow our live blog on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Iran has warned Egyptian authorities that its airlines must avoid flying over Iranian airspace for a period of three hours early Thursday due to “military maneuvers.”
The Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry announced that Iranian authorities have warned all civil airlines flying over Iranian airspace that they will carry out “military maneuvers” on Thursday, August 8 “in Tehran from 4:30 am to 7:30 am local time (2:00 am to 5:00 am in Lisbon).”
Missiles target Netanyahu’s office, two phases, Hezbollah support: What would Iran’s impending attack on Israel look like?
However, according to the Egyptian ministry, the Iranian authorities had already issued a similar warning for Wednesday, between 11:30 and 14:30 (9:00 and 11:00 in Lisbon).
“To ensure the safety of passengers on Egyptian aircraft and to implement current international standards, Egyptian civil aviation authorities have issued a warning to all Egyptian airlines not to enter Iranian airspace. during the above-mentioned times, in order to avoid any danger that could affect the safety of flights,” the ministry said in a statement.
Earlier, an official Egyptian government source had relayed the same information, but with fewer details, to the official Egyptian television station Al-Qahera News, which is close to the country’s secret services.
Meanwhile, aviation media reported Wednesday that Egypt had issued a NOTAM – a warning to air navigation about any danger on a route – to avoid Iranian airspace between 1:00 and 4:00 GMT (2:00 and 05:00 Lisbon time) on Thursday, without providing further details.
The warning comes as Israel expects retaliation from Iran after an attack blamed on the Jewish state killed the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran last week.
Last April, when Iran launched its first attack on Israel in retaliation for Israel’s destruction of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Jordan was the first country to close its airspace.
So far, the Jordanian civil aviation has not responded to this information.
Source: Observadora
