The Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation on Wednesday directed the country’s airlines to steer clear of Iranian airspace for three hours on Thursday morning due to an Iranian “military exercise.”
The ban, effective from 0100 to 0400 GMT, aims to reduce risks to aviation safety, the ministry added.
This development comes amid heightened regional tensions in the Middle East. Iran and its allies have vowed to retaliate for the killings of Hamas Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah senior military commander Fouad Shokor in Beirut, which both occurred last week.
Israel has claimed responsibility for Shokor’s killing but has not commented on Haniyeh’s assassination, which Hamas and Iran have blamed on Israel.
In mid-April, Iran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones at Israel in retaliation for an attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria earlier in the month, which killed seven Iranians, including two military commanders. Israel reported intercepting the majority of the missiles and drones.
