Travel disruption as Cyprus flights cancelled following Israel strikes on Iran
UK travellers are set to experience significant disruption as Cyprus's airports implement emergency measures and scrap flights in response to Israeli air strikes on Iran. The airspace between Iran and Israel has been cleared of civilian aircraft, resulting in over a dozen flight cancellations by Cypriot authorities.
Both Larnaca and Paphos airports have gone into emergency mode – preparing for possible rerouted flights from Israel. In reaction to the heightened tensions, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides called a National Security Council meeting for Friday.
Cyprus has triggered its Special National Plan "Estia" to manage the arrival and subsequent repatriation of foreign nationals. In anticipation of increased threats, Cyprus police have fortified security at both air and sea ports.
A spokesman told CNA that strict measures were already in place in the above areas. However, following the Israeli attack on Iran, security measures were strengthened, including at the Israeli Embassy in Cyprus.
Further travel chaos could also impact nations such as Turkey, Egypt, and potentially even Greece due to their proximity, reports Wales Online.
Israel has attacked the Iranian capital in strikes that targeted the country's nuclear programme and killed at least two top military officers. The assault on Tehran raises the potential for an all-out war between the two bitter Middle East adversaries and appears to be the most significant attack Iran has faced since its war with Iraq in the 1980s.
The strikes came amid simmering tensions over Iran's rapidly advancing nuclear programme and appeared certain to trigger a reprisal, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warning that "severe punishment" would be directed at Israel. Hours later, Israel's military said it had begun intercepting Iranian drones launched in retaliation.
An Israeli official said the interceptions were taking place outside of Israeli territory, but did not elaborate. Iraq said more than 100 Iranian drones had crossed its airspace, and a short time later neighbouring Jordan said its air force and defence systems had intercepted several missiles and drones that had entered its airspace for fear they would fall in its territory.
Israel's attack on Iran hit several sites, including the country's main nuclear enrichment facility, where black smoke could be seen rising into the air. The leader of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen Hossein Salami, was confirmed dead, Iranian state television reported.
Oil prices have surged after Israel launched an attack on Iran's nuclear programme with financial markets anxious over retaliatory action. The price of Brent crude jumped nearly 10% higher at one stage before easing back a little to stand 7% higher at 74 US dollars a barrel.
London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.6%, down 56 points to 8828.6, in early morning trading on Friday after heavy overnight losses on Asian stock markets as the worries spooked investors, with the UK's top tier falling back from a record high set in the previous session.
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Western Telegraph
16 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Diplomacy not an option, warns Iran after US attacks key nuclear sites
Abbas Araghchi said while the 'door to diplomacy' should always be open, 'this is not the case right now'. The United States attacked three sites in Iran overnight, inserting itself into Israel's war aimed at destroying the country's nuclear programme, and President Donald Trump claimed the facilities had been 'completely and fully obliterated'. The Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran confirmed attacks took place on its Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz sites, but it insisted its nuclear programme will not be stopped. Mr Araghchi said: 'The warmongering, lawless administration in Washington is solely and fully responsible for the dangerous consequences and far reaching implications of its act of aggression.' He said 'there is no red line' that the US has not crossed, adding: 'The most dangerous one was what happened only last night when they crossed a very big red line by attacking nuclear facilities only.' Satellite images taken on Sunday show damage to the mountainside at the underground site at Fordo. The images, by Planet Labs PBC, show the once-brown mountain now has parts turned grey and its contours appear slightly different than in previous images, suggesting a blast threw up debris around the site. That suggests the use of specialised American bunker-buster bombs on the facility. Light grey smoke also hung in the air. Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog said there were no immediate signs of radioactive contamination at the three locations following the strikes. It is not clear whether the US will continue attacking Iran alongside its ally Israel, which has been engaged in a nine-day war with Iran. Iran targeted Tel Aviv with missiles in the hours after the US attack (Oded Balilty/AP) Mr Trump acted without congressional authorisation, and he warned there will be additional strikes if Tehran retaliates against US forces. 'There will either be peace or there will be tragedy for Iran,' he said. Iran's foreign ministry said Washington had 'betrayed diplomacy' with the military strikes, and that 'the US has itself launched a dangerous war against Iran'. Its statement added: 'The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its right to resist with full force against US military aggression and the crimes committed by this rogue regime, and to defend Iran's security and national interests.' Hours after the American attacks, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it launched a barrage of 40 missiles at Israel, including its Khorramshahr-4, which can carry multiple warheads. Israeli authorities reported that more than 80 people suffered mostly minor injuries, though one multi-storey building in Tel Aviv was significantly damaged, with its entire facade torn away to expose the apartments inside. Houses across the street were almost completely destroyed. Following the Iranian barrage, Israel's military said it had 'swiftly neutralised' the Iranian missile launchers that had fired, and that it had begun a series of strikes towards military targets in western Iran. President Donald Trump addressed the nation from the White House following the air strikes (Carlos Barria/pool/AP) Iran has maintained its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only, and US intelligence agencies have assessed that Tehran is not actively pursuing a bomb. However, Mr Trump and Israeli leaders have argued Iran could quickly assemble a nuclear weapon, making it an imminent threat. The decision to directly involve the US in the war comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel that significantly degraded Iran's air defences and offensive missile capabilities, and damaged its nuclear enrichment facilities. But US and Israeli officials have said American B-2 stealth bombers and the 30,000-pound bunker-buster bomb that only they have been configured to carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear programme buried deep underground. Mr Trump appears to have made the calculation – at the prodding of Israeli officials and many Republicans – that Israel's operation had softened the ground and presented a perhaps unparalleled opportunity to set back Iran's nuclear programme, perhaps permanently. 'We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordo, Natanz, and Esfahan,' Mr Trump said in a post on social media. 'All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordo. All planes are safely on their way home.' Mr Trump later added: 'This is an HISTORIC MOMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ISRAEL, AND THE WORLD. IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR. THANK YOU!' Israel announced on Sunday that it had closed its airspace to both inbound and outbound flights in the wake of the US attacks. US officials said the attack used bunker-buster bombs on Iran's Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant, while submarines launched about 30 Tomahawk missiles. The decision to attack was a risky one for Mr Trump, who won the White House partially on the promise of keeping America out of costly foreign conflicts and scoffed at the value of American interventionism. But he has vowed he will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon and he had initially hoped the threat of force would bring the country's leaders to give up its nuclear programme peacefully.
The National
17 minutes ago
- The National
Keir Starmer accused of 'gaslighting' statement on US bombing of Iran
The Prime Minister posted on social media following news of the attack, with his comments gathering 1.7 million views and thousands of furious comments. Starmer said the US bombing was taken to 'alleviate' the threat of Iran developing a nuclear weapon. 'The situation in the Middle East remains volatile and stability in the region is a priority,' he wrote. READ MORE: 'I spent 16 months in Gaza amid Israel's genocide. Here's what I saw' 'We call on Iran to return to the negotiating table and reach a diplomatic solution to end this crisis.' Starmer's comments prompted a furious response from politicians and social media users. Former first minister Humza Yousaf said: 'An awful statement from the PM, which ignores our collective responsibility to uphold international law. 'Supporting illegal military action in Iran, and gas-lighting us about an imminent nuclear threat, is hauntingly reminiscent of the lies told in the run up to the Iraq war.' (Image: PA) Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said: 'This is a deplorable response, but all too predictable. 'Israel expanding its war, by attacking Iran when negotiations were imminent, was an outrage. The US is now escalating the conflict. 'Instead of being a voice for de-escalation, the UK is siding with the aggressors.' Green party deputy leader Zack Polanski said: 'I don't think anyone expected him to say anything better. 'But he'd probably have been better maintaining his usual silence. 'Iran were negotiating - when Israel launched a war on them. The US joined in - and now our Prime Minister basically says 'well they were asking for it'.' READ MORE: Laura Kuenssberg slammed live on air for platforming Israeli president SDLP MP Colum Eastwood said simply: 'Utterly pathetic.' Social media users also criticised the PM's comments. One wrote: 'I have never despised a prime minister more. You've drenched every British citizen in blood. The vast majority reject your support for Israel, its genocide, and its constant violations of international law. Shame on you.' Another added: 'Are you dumb? Iran was bombed whilst at the negotiating table. Stop gaslighting your electorate and start telling the truth.' Elsewhere, First Minister John Swinney called for a 'diplomatic solution'. It comes after Cabinet minister Jonathan Reynolds would not say the UK supported the military action nor whether he believed the US strikes were legal. Asked on the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg if the US action was a good thing, he said: 'The outcome. It isn't the means by which anyone in the British Government would have wanted to see this occur.' Pushed on whether the US strike was legal, he said: 'It is where we are today.' The US attacked Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz which are linked to Iran's nuclear programme. The Tehran regime has insisted its nuclear programme is peaceful but its uranium enrichment process has gone far beyond what is required for power stations. In an address to the nation from the White House, Donald Trump warned there could be further strikes if Iran retaliates: 'There will either be peace or there will be tragedy for Iran.'
New Statesman
20 minutes ago
- New Statesman
How Benjamin Netanyahu beat America First
'Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace,' Donald Trump told the world from inside the White House last night. Earlier that day, B-2 bombers had dropped their bunker-busting payloads on three Iranian nuclear facilities, marking America's entrance into the conflict between Israel and Iran. This is not peace through strength, but peace through war. What happens now depends on the Iranian response. Trump's gamble seems to be that the attack will force a vulnerable Iran to negotiate (which they were doing before Israel assassinated their chief negotiator) because the mullahs know a long bombing campaign risks bringing down the regime itself. But that would mean Ayatollah Khamanei accepting the humiliation of bowing to American power. The alternative is to attack. The 40,000 American troops in the Middle East have been told to prepare for retaliation. The Iranians could also hike the price of oil by attempting to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of the world's supply passes. That is why Trump wants this to be the end. Escalation puts his administration's core purpose at risk. The neoconservative mind assumes that America can be insulated from its foreign wars. In contrast, America First sees war as inexorably linked to, and inevitably bad for, Washington's appetite to put Americans first. Hence Maga isolationists have spent the past two weeks lobbying against any strikes. Where is that dissent now? Charlie Kirk, the online Maga influencer, posted: 'America stands with President Trump'. JD Vance stood beside the president as he gave his speech, even as Reuters reported earlier on Saturday that the vice president told senior Israeli officials that the US should not be directly involved in the conflict and that Israel was going to drag the US into the war. The lesson here is that loyalty to the Maga leader sits beneath any moral or strategic gripes someone in Maga might have with the president's decisions. That dissent is rare means the Democrats can take up the anti-war mantle. Bernie Sanders read out news of the attack at a rally yesterday. The crowd erupted into the chant: 'No more war'. 'It is so grossly unconstitutional,' Sanders said, 'the president does not have the right'. Sanders is correct: bombing a sovereign country is a declaration of war, a power that the constitution reserves to Congress. President Trump did not put much effort into winning over the public. Where were the interviews making the case for war? Persuasion was substituted by his own public musings as to whether he would give the order, which is illuminating because it suggests he sees war as something waged by himself alone, and not the nation as a whole. His nationalism, in other words, sits beneath his ego. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe It feels almost quaint to talk about the United Nations in 2025, but Trump has reduced those institutions designed to stop one country forcefully imposing its will on another to farce. Similar disregard for the UN in 2003 was at least accompanied by the pretence – at least partly down to the diplomatic efforts of Tony Blair throughout 2002 – that Bush cared enough about international opinion to enlist Colin Powell to plead the case at the Security Council. That pretence has been read its last rites. The President has not even tried to justify the strike in terms of self-defence. The Labour government has said it supports the strikes, despite pushing diplomacy as the only appropriate course of action beforehand, raising the question: do they support the ends without the means, or do they now support the action simply because it has happened? That call for diplomacy now looks quixotic. Trump is a practitioner of power, not words. As he said this week, 'Europe is not going to be able to help in this'. The timeline of events leading up to Saturday's strike punctures the idea that this was Trump's plan all along. In May he asked Netanyahu not to strike Iran so that negotiations could take place. But once Netanyahu ignored him, Trump's pure machismo need to be in on the action meant he forgave the snub and sent a fleet of B-2 bombers to Iran. The Israelis were reportedly told about yesterday's strike beforehand, and Trump even thanked Netanyahu personally in his White House speech. If international law and diplomacy has lost, Netanyahu has won. He once again judged correctly that America would follow where he led. Remember Joe Biden's 'redline' over Rafah? Netanyahu invaded anyway. The alliance endured. Clearly it still does. [Further reading: Where have all the anti-war Democrats gone?] Related
