Ahead of imminent attack on Israel, Iran blocks its airspace for 'military activities'

As Israel braces for an imminent attack, Iran has blocked its airspace for military activities, according to Egyptian media.

In response to the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which Iran has blamed on Israel, Iran has vowed to extract revenge . The United States and Israel have assessed the attack may come anytime and have been making defensive preparations.

Now, Egyptian state-media outlet Al Qahera News TV has quoted an Egyptian official as saying that Iran has advised civilian airlines worldwide to avoid flying through Iranian airspace.

The official said that Iran is banning civilian air travel through its airspace as its plan to conduct military exercises.

There are fears that the Iranian attack the subsequent Israeli response could plunge the Middle East in an escalatory cycle leading to a fall-out war. Even though there are all-round efforts to convince the parties to not escalate till the level of a full-scale war, Iran no longer appears to care about a war.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Iran has told Arab leaders that it no longer cares if its attack on Israel leads to a full-scale enveloping the Middle East.

Notably, Iran had issued a similar ban for the airspace in certain parts of the country earlier this week . In a NOTAM issued on Monday, Iran had banned civilian air traffic in the country’s central, western, and northwestern regions and has advised civilian aircraft to change their routes if their routes passed through these regions.

Egypt also issues NOTAM

Following the reported closure of Iranian airspace, Egypt has also asked its airlines to avoid the Iranian airspace.

Reuters has reported that Egypt has a very specific NOTAM. It has said that the Egyptian airlines must avoid Iranian airspace for the three-hour period during 1-4 am on Thursday (August 8).

“All Egyptian carriers shall avoid overflying Tehran (Flight information Region) FIR. No flight plan will be accepted overflying such territory,” said the NOTAM, as per Reuters.

FlightRadar 24 noted in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that the NOTAM was highly unusual as Egyptian flights avoid the Iranian airspace anyway.

Will Iran attack Israel tonight?

The closure of the airspace has led to speculations whether Iran is going to attack Israe tonight. The closure of the airspace and the notification to the world via Iran could be a way to send out a warning to Israel and its partners such as the United States to prepare for a barrage of missiles, rockets, and drones that may be in the offing. This would be like the way Iran communicated its intent to attack in advance earlier this year.

In April when Iran attacked Israel for the first time ever , in response to the killing of top Iranian commanders at the Iranian diplomatic mission Syrian capital Damascus, it had telegraphed the intent as well as the nature of the attack several days in advance that allowed Israel and the United States to make defensive arrangements. They also forged a coalition that also involved France, the United Kingdom, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia to jointly beat back the Iranian barrage.

The United States is attempting to forge a similar coalition this time but it has proved to be much harder as anti-Israel sentiment in the region has soared following Haniyeh’s assassination last week. The United States has moved additional fighter planes, warships, and an aircraft carrier to the Middle East to help in Israel’s defensive interests and defend its own interests as well in the region from Iran’s and its backed group’s attack.

It is believed that Iran will attack Israel just like April but at a much larger scale. This would mean that Iranian-backed groups in the region from the ‘Axis of Resistance’, such as Hezbollah, Houthis, and militias in Syria and Iraq are likely to join the attack. Israeli outlet Ynet has said that Israel has assessed that the Iranian attack may open as many as five fronts of war.