Airspace closed, airlines halt flights as US, Israel attack, Iran responds

At least eight countries, including Iran, Israel, Jordan and Qatar, shutter airspace as global air travel severely hit.

A wave of United States and Israeli strikes on Iran, and retaliation by Tehran, have triggered an outburst of regional violence, forcing much of the Middle East’s airspace to shut down and reverberating across the globe.

At least eight states declared their airspace closed as the conflict erupted Saturday, including Iran, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Syria also announced it had closed part of its airspace in the south along its border with Israel for 12 hours.

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The closures came after the US and Israel carried out attacks across Iran that US President Donald Trump pledged would raze Iran’s missile industry and destroy its navy. Iran, which had been engaged in negotiations with the US over its nuclear programme right up until the attack, pledged a harsh response and soon began waging retaliatory strikes in Israel, as well as several Gulf Arab states that host US military assets, including Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE and Bahrain.

“All American and Israeli assets and interests in the Middle East have become a legitimate target,” a senior Iranian official told Al Jazeera. “There are no red lines after this aggression, and everything is possible.”

The disruption caused global airlines to cancel or divert flights from destinations across the Middle East, which has become an important route for flights between Europe and Asia, as Russian and Ukrainian airspace is closed to most airlines due to the war there.

Russia’s Ministry of Transport said Russian air carriers had suspended flights to Iran and ⁠Israel. Air India said it would temporarily avoid the Middle East altogether.

Among other airlines announcing suspensions to destinations in the region were Lufthansa, Air France, Iberia, Wizz Air, Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, Virgin Atlantic, KLM, British Airways, Aegean Airlines, Indigo, Japan Airlines and Scandinavian Airlines.

Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Doha, said the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran and Iran’s response, affecting numerous Gulf states, have created two “parallel” conflicts, further deepening instability.

“This could make the whole crisis very intertwined and very complicated in a way that this region has never witnessed,” said Hashem.