Iran has issued a notice to pilots and aviation authorities to avoid its airspace as the government threatens to strike Israel, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing sources.
The notification follows US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s warning on Sunday to the Group of Seven foreign ministers that Tehran could attack Israel within 24 to 48 hours, according to two diplomats briefed on the call. Blinken didn’t say what form an attack could take.
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According to the report, the notification from Tehran about its airspace, which happened at 7:45 a.m. CET, is typically used by aviation authorities to provide essential real-time information to pilots that wasn’t known in advance.
It is essentially a stay-away message to commercial and civilian aviation without any indication of what may follow, the WSJ wrote.
Israel is currently bracing for an attack by Iran, which Iranian officials have vowed to launch in retaliation for Israel’s alleged assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.
West Jerusalem has neither confirmed nor denied involvement but said it is prepared to defend against and respond to any retaliatory strike. Washington has said it would help defend the Jewish state.
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US officials have reportedly been working with their international partners to try to contain growing tensions in the Middle East.
According to a diplomat briefed by the WSJ on Sunday’s G7 call, Blinken told his counterparts that if Iran’s retaliation against Israel is of a similar scale to April’s attack, it could close off any future engagement between Iran and the US.
In April, Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel in response to the Israeli bombing of its consulate in Syria. The barrage was mostly countered by Israel’s Iron Dome air defense systems, but a number of missiles reached their targets, dealing what Israel said was minimal damage to military installations.
On Monday, Israeli media reported that West Jerusalem could launch a “preemptive strike” on Iran if it receives intelligence that Tehran is certain to stage a revenge attack.