Escalation threatens

Airlines avoid airspace over Iran

In view of Iran's threats against Israel, more and more airlines are avoiding Iranian airspace. In addition, family members of those posted at the German embassy in Tehran are leaving the country.

On Saturday, the Dutch airline KLM and the Australian airline Qantas announced the adjustment of flight routes. Qantas' Perth-London route, which was originally flown without a stopover, will make a stopover in Singapore for refueling until further notice.

This will avoid flying through dangerous airspace, the AAP news agency quoted the airline as saying. The return flight will remain unchanged thanks to the prevailing winds. The non-stop Perth-London flight normally takes around 17.5 hours and can only be made with a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with a route via Iran, as reported by the Guardian.

Meanwhile, KLM will no longer fly over Iran and most of Israel with immediate effect. According to the airline, this is being done "as a precautionary measure", reported the Dutch news agency ANP. However, KLM will continue to fly to the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean coast. Previously, Lufthansa, among others, had also suspended its flights to Tehran until further notice for security reasons.

At the beginning of 2020, Iran mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane shortly after take-off in Tehran amid military tensions with the USA. All 176 passengers died in the disaster.

Tense situation in Tehran(Bild: APA/AFP/ATTA KENARE)

Relatives of German embassy staff leave Iran
Due to the great danger, the family members of those posted to the German embassy in Tehran are now leaving the country. In addition, further security precautions have been taken, as a spokesperson for the Foreign Office in Berlin informed the German Press Agency on Saturday. The Austrian Foreign Ministry, on the other hand, said in response to an APA inquiry that "no measures in this regard are planned".

The German spokesperson explained that a crisis team meeting was planned at the Foreign Office in the afternoon. Bild am Sonntag had previously reported this. It was also reported that a low three-digit number of Germans had signed up to the "Elefand" crisis preparedness lists. According to the Foreign Office, it is assumed that a larger number of German-Iranian dual nationals are living in Iran. However, no confirmed figures are available, as there is no obligation to register abroad.

On Friday, the Federal Foreign Office called on all German nationals in Iran to leave the country. At the same time, it warned against traveling to Iran. The security situation could deteriorate quickly and without warning. Austrians were also called upon to leave Iran.

Attack on Iranian embassy compound
At the beginning of April, two brigadier generals and five other members of the powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) were killed in a suspected Israeli airstrike on the Iranian embassy compound in the Syrian capital Damascus. The Iranian leadership has since threatened to retaliate several times.