Deleted video showing Iranian missiles
Iranian news agency Mehr reported overnight Thursday that Iran temporarily grounded all air activity over Tehran’s airspace starting from midnight due to "military drills," according to a report published on the agency’s X account, citing Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad-Reza Gharaei Ashtiani. Half an hour later, however, the post was removed, with the agency later denying its publishing.
In another deleted post, Mehr shared a video showing missiles with the caption "Maybe tonight… Stay tuned." The posts come amid worry Iran would try and seek revenge against Israel, which it blames for a strike in Damascus in which several of its senior officers were killed.
Furthermore, Mehr included a quote from another Iranian news agency, Fars, in which an Iranian Air Force source said that the missiles produced in the country during the last 12 years didn’t use a GPS guiding system. This came following GPS disruptions operated by the IDF last week, which also led to malfunctions in navigation applications such as Waze.
On Wednesday, German airline Lufthansa announced a one-day suspension of flights to Tehran. The company said flights were suspended due to the “situation in the Middle East."
On Thursday, the airline extended the cancellation of daily flights from Frankfurt to Tehran due to security concerns until April 13. A spokesperson for the company said that the decision was taken last weekend to avoid a situation where the airline's crew had to stay overnight in Tehran.
Meanwhile, U.S. envoy to the Middle East Brett McGurk spoke with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Iraq, asking them to tell Iran it should avoid escalation against Israel, following its threats.
According to a source familiar with the details speaking with Reuters, McGurk asked the ministers to contact Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and convey the same message to him. Shortly afterward, Iranian reports said that Abdollahian spoke with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Iraq.
Meanwhile, discussions between senior U.S. and Israeli officials continue amid concerns of Iranian retaliation. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday and assured him the United States will stand by Israel against any threat from Iran and its proxies.