Countries including India, France, and Russia have warned their citizens...
Air India flights have begun avoiding Iranian airspace amid tension rising in the Middle East as warnings grew of retaliation for the Israeli strike on Iran's embassy in Damascus earlier this month, as per reports.
A London-bound Air India flight took a longer route to avoid Iranian airspace this morning, tracking website Flightradar24 showed.
All Air India flights bound for Europe could now take up to two hours longer to reach the destination, sources said.
Air India flights to the Middle East, however, will not be impacted as they fly South of Iranian airspace.
The 'shadow war' between the two Middle Eastern countries heated up when an Israeli airstrike hit the Iran consulate in Damascus on April 1, killing seven people, including two generals.
US and other intelligence assessments have said the retaliation could come as soon as Sunday. The unprecedented attack could trigger an all-out regional war.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had earlier this week warned that Israel "must be punished and will be punished", days after one of his advisers said Israeli embassies are "no longer safe".
The Israeli military said it had not issued fresh instructions to civilians, but that its forces were on high alert and prepared for a range of scenarios.
Countries including India, France and Russia have warned their citizens against travel to the region, already on edge over the war in Gaza, now in its seventh month.
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