Airlines are avoiding Iranian and Lebanese airspace and canceling flights to Israel and Lebanon, as concerns grow over a possible conflict in the region after the killing of senior members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah this week.
Singapore Airlines stopped flying through Iranian airspace from early Friday morning and is using alternative routes, saying safety is its top priority, it told Reuters in a statement.
Taiwan’s EVA Air and China Airlines also appeared to be avoiding Iran airspace for flights to Amsterdam on Friday which previously had flown over Iran, Flightradar24 data showed.
The airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the route changes.
In a bulletin, OPSGROUP, a membership-based organization that shares flight risk information, advised traffic between Asia and Europe to avoid Iranian and Iraqi airspace, a day after sources told Reuters that top Iranian officials will meet the representatives of Iran’s regional allies from Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen to discuss potential retaliation against Israel.
Many airlines, including US and European airlines, already avoid flying over Iran, especially since the reciprocal missile and drone attacks in April between Iran and Israel.
Singapore Airlines’ flight to London Heathrow early on Friday went north of Iran through Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, rather than crossing through Iran as it did the day before, Flightradar24 showed.
However, a significant number of airlines on Friday were still flying over Iran, including United Arab Emirates carriers Etihad, Emirates and FlyDubai, as well as Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines.
Over the past two days, Air India, Germany’s Lufthansa Group, US carriers United Airlines and Delta Air, and Italy’s ITA Airways said they had suspended flights to Tel Aviv.
Airlines this week have also been canceling and delaying flights to the Lebanese capital Beirut after a strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday. Israel has blamed the attack on Lebanon-based armed group Hezbollah, which denied involvement.
Canada on Thursday issued a notice to Canadian aircraft to avoid Lebanese airspace for one month due to the risk to aviation from military activity.
Britain has for the past month advised pilots of potential risk from anti-aircraft weaponry and military activity in Lebanon’s airspace.
Should an all-out war break out in the Middle East, OpsGroup said civil aviation will likely face the risk of drones and missiles crossing airways, as well as the increased risk of GPS spoofing — a growing phenomena around Lebanon and Israel where militaries and other actors broadcast signals that trick a plane’s GPS system into thinking it is somewhere it is not. (Writing by Lisa Barrington; editing by Miral Fahmy and Ros Russell)
![]()
Airlines avoid some Mideast airspace, cancel Israel flights as tensions mount
Short Url
https://arab.news/y3wm7
Airlines avoid some Mideast airspace, cancel Israel flights as tensions mount
- The airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the route changes
- Britain has for the past month advised pilots of potential risk from anti-aircraft weaponry and military activity
Iraq negotiates new coalition under US pressure
BAGHDAD: More than a month after Iraq’s parliamentary elections, the country’s top leaders remain locked in talks to form a government while facing pressure from Washington to exclude Tehran-backed armed groups.
Amid seismic changes in the Middle East, where new alliances are forming and old powers waning, Iraqi leaders face a daunting task: navigating relations with US-blacklisted pro-Iranian factions.
- What does the US want? -
The US has held significant sway over Iraqi politics since leading the 2003 invasion that ousted long-time ruler Saddam Hussein.
But another spectre also haunts Iraq’s halls of power: Washington’s arch-foe, Iran.
Iraq has long been caught between the two, with successive governments negotiating a delicate balance.
Now, after November’s election, Washington has demanded the eventual government must exclude Iran-backed armed groups and instead move to dismantle them, Iraqi officials and diplomats told AFP.
A State Department spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “Iraqi leaders well know what is and is not compatible with a strong US-Iraq partnership.”
Washington, the spokesperson said, “will continue to speak plainly to the urgency of dismantling Iran-backed militias.”
But some of these groups have increased their presence in the new chamber and have joined the Coordination Framework, an alliance of Shiite parties with varying ties to Iran and which holds the majority.
For weeks, the Coordination Framework has been embroiled in talks to nominate the next prime minister.
“The US has put conditions that armed factions should not be part of the new government,” a senior Iraqi official said. The factions must disarm and “sever ties with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard,” he added.
In recent tweets, the US special envoy to Iraq, Mark Savaya said that Iraqi leaders are at a “crossroads.”
Their decision “will send a clear and unmistakable signal to the United States... that Iraq is ready to claim its rightful place as a stable and respected nation in the new Middle East.
“The alternative is equally clear: economic deterioration, political confusion, and international isolation,” Savaya said.
- Which armed groups? -
The US has blacklisted as “terrorist organizations” several armed groups from within the Hashed Al-Shaabi, a former paramilitary alliance now integrated into the armed forces.
They are also part of the Iran-backed so-called “axis of resistance” and have called for the withdrawal of US troops — deployed in Iraq as part of an anti-jihadist coalition — and launched attacks against them.
Most of these groups hold seats in parliament and have seen their political and financial clout increase.
The Asaib Ahl Al-Haq faction, led by Qais Al-Khazali, who is a key figure in the Coordination Framework, won 27 seats in the latest election, making it harder to exclude it from the government.
A potential compromise is to deny it a key portfolio, as in the current government.
“The US has turned a blind eye before, so they might after all engage with the government as a whole but not with ministries held by armed groups,” a former Iraqi official said.
Other blacklisted groups are:
+ Kataeb Hezbollah, one of the most powerful armed groups, supports a parliamentary bloc (six seats).
+ Kataeb Sayyid Al-Shuhada, Kataeb Imam Ali and Harakat Ansar Allah Al-Awfiya.
+ The Al-Nujaba movement is the only group that has steered clear of elections.
- What is at stake? -
Iraq has its economic growth to worry about.
After decades of turmoil, it has only begun to regain a sense of normalcy in recent years.
Washington has already imposed sanctions on several Iraqi entities and banks, accusing them of helping Tehran evade sanctions.
But Iraqi leaders hope for greater foreign investments and support partnerships with US companies.
The most striking endorsement came from Khazali, an opponent of the US military presence who now argues that it would be in Baghdad’s interest for major US companies to invest.
Since the Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza began in October 2023, Iraq has remained relatively unscathed by the turmoil engulfing the Middle East.
Iraqi armed groups did launch attacks on US troops and largely unsuccessful ones on Israel. Washington responded with heavy strikes, and the attacks have long-since halted.
Iraq remained the only close regional ally of Iran to stay out of Israel’s crosshairs.
So far, the US has acted as a buffer, helping to prevent an Israeli attack, but Iraqis have been warned of strikes against the armed groups, multiple sources said.
But as the presence of American forces dwindles, fears are growing.
Amid seismic changes in the Middle East, where new alliances are forming and old powers waning, Iraqi leaders face a daunting task: navigating relations with US-blacklisted pro-Iranian factions.
- What does the US want? -
The US has held significant sway over Iraqi politics since leading the 2003 invasion that ousted long-time ruler Saddam Hussein.
But another spectre also haunts Iraq’s halls of power: Washington’s arch-foe, Iran.
Iraq has long been caught between the two, with successive governments negotiating a delicate balance.
Now, after November’s election, Washington has demanded the eventual government must exclude Iran-backed armed groups and instead move to dismantle them, Iraqi officials and diplomats told AFP.
A State Department spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “Iraqi leaders well know what is and is not compatible with a strong US-Iraq partnership.”
Washington, the spokesperson said, “will continue to speak plainly to the urgency of dismantling Iran-backed militias.”
But some of these groups have increased their presence in the new chamber and have joined the Coordination Framework, an alliance of Shiite parties with varying ties to Iran and which holds the majority.
For weeks, the Coordination Framework has been embroiled in talks to nominate the next prime minister.
“The US has put conditions that armed factions should not be part of the new government,” a senior Iraqi official said. The factions must disarm and “sever ties with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard,” he added.
In recent tweets, the US special envoy to Iraq, Mark Savaya said that Iraqi leaders are at a “crossroads.”
Their decision “will send a clear and unmistakable signal to the United States... that Iraq is ready to claim its rightful place as a stable and respected nation in the new Middle East.
“The alternative is equally clear: economic deterioration, political confusion, and international isolation,” Savaya said.
- Which armed groups? -
The US has blacklisted as “terrorist organizations” several armed groups from within the Hashed Al-Shaabi, a former paramilitary alliance now integrated into the armed forces.
They are also part of the Iran-backed so-called “axis of resistance” and have called for the withdrawal of US troops — deployed in Iraq as part of an anti-jihadist coalition — and launched attacks against them.
Most of these groups hold seats in parliament and have seen their political and financial clout increase.
The Asaib Ahl Al-Haq faction, led by Qais Al-Khazali, who is a key figure in the Coordination Framework, won 27 seats in the latest election, making it harder to exclude it from the government.
A potential compromise is to deny it a key portfolio, as in the current government.
“The US has turned a blind eye before, so they might after all engage with the government as a whole but not with ministries held by armed groups,” a former Iraqi official said.
Other blacklisted groups are:
+ Kataeb Hezbollah, one of the most powerful armed groups, supports a parliamentary bloc (six seats).
+ Kataeb Sayyid Al-Shuhada, Kataeb Imam Ali and Harakat Ansar Allah Al-Awfiya.
+ The Al-Nujaba movement is the only group that has steered clear of elections.
- What is at stake? -
Iraq has its economic growth to worry about.
After decades of turmoil, it has only begun to regain a sense of normalcy in recent years.
Washington has already imposed sanctions on several Iraqi entities and banks, accusing them of helping Tehran evade sanctions.
But Iraqi leaders hope for greater foreign investments and support partnerships with US companies.
The most striking endorsement came from Khazali, an opponent of the US military presence who now argues that it would be in Baghdad’s interest for major US companies to invest.
Since the Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza began in October 2023, Iraq has remained relatively unscathed by the turmoil engulfing the Middle East.
Iraqi armed groups did launch attacks on US troops and largely unsuccessful ones on Israel. Washington responded with heavy strikes, and the attacks have long-since halted.
Iraq remained the only close regional ally of Iran to stay out of Israel’s crosshairs.
So far, the US has acted as a buffer, helping to prevent an Israeli attack, but Iraqis have been warned of strikes against the armed groups, multiple sources said.
But as the presence of American forces dwindles, fears are growing.
Latest updates
Recommended
© 2025 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.