UAE flights resume as Iran opens airports
LEADERS TRY TO CONVINCE NETANYAHU AGGRESSIVE REACTION COULD BACKFIRE
Oil shrugged off Iran’s attack on Israel, with prices easing on speculation that the conflict would remain contained.
Dubai carrier flydubai, which operates multiple daily flights to destinations in Iran, including Tehran, Bandar Abbas, Esfahan, Lar, Mashhad and Shiraz, has resumed operations.
The decision follows Iran’s lifting of a suspension on domestic and international flights from its capital early yesterday. A flydubai spokesperson told Gulf News, “flydubai flights are operating to schedule following the opening of airspaces in the region. We are in direct contact with our passengers whose travel plans have been affected.”
As of yesterday, there have been no cancellations or reroutes. However, passengers will have to wait until tomorrow to book fresh tickets to many Iranian destinations, as flights for the next two days are operating at capacity.
Normalcy returns
Economy air tickets to Tehran on Emirates are available after April 17. Etihad Airways was planning to operate scheduled passenger and cargo services between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, Amman and Beirut starting yesterday. Abu Dhabiheadquartered Wizz Air Abu Dhabi has also resumed normal operation following the temporary closure of a number of air spaces in the region.
The developments came after European leaders joined the US in pushing for Israel to restrain its response to Iran’s drone and missile attack, in a bid to allay a wider military conflict. The US, Europe, and Arab states are trying to convince Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that an aggressive reaction to Iran’s assault on Saturday night would harm Israel’s interests.
Oil shrugged off Iran’s attack on Israel, with prices easing on speculation that the conflict would remain contained. Israel’s currency rebounded after a bout of selling as investors bet the conflict won’t escalate further.
Israel bombed war-battered Gaza, Hamas said yesterday, as world leaders awaited Israel’s reaction to Iran’s unprecedented attack that heightened fears of a wider conflict.
World powers have called for restraint after Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel late Saturday, though the Israeli military has said nearly all were intercepted.
Tehran’s first direct assault on Israel, in retaliation for a deadly April-1 strike on its Damascus embassy consular annex, followed months of violence across the region involving Iranian proxies and allies who say they act in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Act of self-defence: Iran
No decision has been made on how, when — or if — Israel could respond to the Iran attack, local media said, reporting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would meet with his war cabinet.
Tensions in Iran “weaken the regime and rather serve Israel,” the newspaper Israel Hayom said, adding that this suggested Israel would not rush to retaliate.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has warned that a “reckless” Israeli move would spark a “much stronger response”.
Tehran has insisted the attack on Israel was an act of “self-defence” after the Damascus strike that killed seven Revolutionary Guards including two generals.
Attention has also turned to Israel’s top ally, the United States, which played a key role in shooting down the Iranian drones.
While US President Joe Biden has been increasingly critical of the civilian death toll in Gaza, he reaffirmed Washington’s “ironclad” support for Israel after the Iran attack.
But Biden has been pushing for caution, telling Netanyahu that the White House would not offer military support for any retaliation against Iran, according to a senior US official.
Gaza war toll rises
The Israeli military said it would not be distracted from its war against Hamas in Gaza, triggered by the Palestinian armed group’s October-7 attack.
“Even while under attack from Iran, we have not lost sight... of our critical mission in Gaza to rescue our hostages from the hands of Iran’s proxy Hamas,” military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said late Sunday.
Israel estimates that 129 hostages, including 34 presumed dead, remain in the hands of Palestinian militants since the attack six months ago.
The Hamas government media office said Israeli aircraft and tanks launched “dozens” of strikes overnight on central Gaza, reporting casualties.
Hamas’s attack that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,797 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamasrun territory. The toll rose by at least 68 deaths over 24 hours.
Israel yesterday released 150 detainees who had been rounded up in Gaza, the territory’s crossings authority told AFP.
‘On the brink’ of war
The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting on Sunday, following the Iranian attack, where Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the region was “on the brink” of war.
“Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate,” Guterres said.
Britain and Germany were among those also calling for de-escalation yesterday, while French President Emmanuel Macron said his government would help do everything it could to avoid a “conflagration” in the Middle East.
A US official said the hope was that “in the light of day” Israel would see it had won a “spectacular success” against Iran’s attack, which resulted in no reported deaths.
However, Middle East analyst James Ryan said he feared the “status quo will be short-lived”. “Netanyahu has already shown a willingness to test any kind of limit Biden wishes to impose,” he said.