Qatar has temporarily halted all air traffic within its airspace due to safety concerns for its population and visitors, as announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on X. This was reported by Reuters and The Wall Street Journal.
This decision follows escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and potential Iranian retaliation against the United States.
Flights destined for Doha’s Hamad International Airport are being redirected to other airports.
Moreover, flight tracking platform Flightradar24 said that inbound flights to Doha’s Hamad International Airport began diverting to alternate airports.
Various international news channels such as CNN, BBC and Sky News have reported that several missiles have been fired from Iran toward U.S. bases in Qatar and Iraq. It was also reported that Qatar air defences are intercepting these attacks on U.S. bases but this has yet to be verified.
The British government on Monday issued a warning recommending that UK citizens in Qatar shelter in place until further notice.
The recommendation, which was issued out of “an abundance of caution” it said, and included no details, follows a similar warning the US government issued to its citizens in the Gulf Arab State.
Following the US warning in Doha, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said warnings by foreign embassies “do not necessarily reflect the existence of specific or credible threats.”
“We would like to reassure the public that the security situation in the state remains stable,” he wrote on X. “Qatar continues to exert intensive diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region.”
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