Airlines are canceling flights to the Middle East

Airlines cancel flights in the Middle East

Will Trump soon attack the mullahs?

According to Israeli reports, airlines have canceled flights to the Middle East. Is an attack on Iran imminent?

The Iran crisis continues to worsen. On Friday, US President Donald Trump said that a “powerful fleet” was heading towards the Middle East. Now several airlines have canceled flights to the region for Saturday and the following days, Israeli media reports.

The Israeli daily Haaretz and the news channel i24 reported that the Dutch KLM and the French Air France have canceled several flights to the region. According to reports, the German Lufthansa will only offer day flights. KLM has suspended flights to Tel Aviv, Dubai, Dammam and Riyadh until further notice, Dutch media report. The reason given is the geopolitical situation. According to i24, Swiss, Air Canada and United Airlines have also restricted their flights.

The USA initially wants to put new sanctions under pressure on the Iranian leadership after the brutal crackdown on protesters. The focus is on nine ships and their owners and several management companies that transported Iranian oil and petroleum products worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the US Treasury Department. The USA assumes that this is used to finance terrorism. They want to use sanctions to prevent oil sales and weaken Iran’s leadership financially.

At the same time, the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is on its way to the Middle East with escort ships. He should arrive in the next few days. The formation includes about 5,000 sailors and Marines as well as squadrons of fighter jets, helicopters and electronic attack aircraft.

US President Donald Trump warned Iran: “Maybe we don’t have to use them, we’ll see,” he added. Many ships are on their way to the region just in case. “I would prefer that nothing happens, but we are watching them very closely,” Trump said. The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Mohammed Pakpur, then warned of an attack: the armed forces were ready “with their finger on the trigger.”

Iran has threatened “war by all means” in the event of an attack over the deployment of a US aircraft carrier group to the region. “If the Americans violate Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, we will respond,” said a senior government official on Friday (local time), who did not want to be named.

He left it open what an Iranian response might look like. The military is prepared for the worst scenario, which is why everything in Iran is on high alert. Iran is under constant military threat from the US and has no choice but to strike back, the Iranian government official said.