Egypt has prohibited its airlines from flying overnight over Tehran’s Iranian capital. “All Egyptian airlines should avoid flights over Tehran,” a security notice from the civil aviation authority in Cairo read on Wednesday.
It said plans for flights over this area would be rejected. The directive applies for three hours from 0100 GMT on Thursday.
Such a notice from Egypt is “very unusual,” the organization OPS Group wrote, which informs its members about risks and changes in international air traffic.
“This may be an indicator of an Iranian response to Israel, and in turn, a potentially large set of airspace disruptions,” the group wrote, referring to a potentially imminent attack that has been speculated about for days.
Earlier this week, Jordan asked all incoming aircraft to carry an additional 45 minutes of fuel in case of diversions.
An Iranian attack on Israel could play out, as it did in April, in the skies over Jordan, among other places.
Following the killing of top Hamas leader Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and the killing of a military commander of the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, the risk of a major war in the Middle East has significantly increased.
Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement have announced retaliation against Israel.
