Tension is rising in the Middle East. The head of French diplomacy Stéphane Séjourné “recommends that the French absolutely abstain from traveling in the coming days to Iran, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian Territories,” his entourage told AFP on Friday.
The move comes as Iran threatens to strike Israel, accused of an April 1 attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria. It was “taken into account during a crisis meeting”, specifies the minister. He also called for the “return of the families of diplomatic agents from Tehran” as well as a ban on missions by French officials in these countries.
American general sent to Israel
The United States suspects an imminent attack by Iran on Israel. As a “precaution”, and a concrete sign of these fears, they announced on Thursday restricting the movements in Israel of their diplomatic staff and members of their family. An American general in charge of the Middle East, Michael Erik Kurilla, is also in Israel to discuss with the country’s military leaders “security threats in the region”, precisely in this context of escalation with Iran.
Furthermore, the German airline Lufthansa announced that it would extend the suspension of its flights to and from Tehran, “probably until Saturday (inclusive)”, due to these tensions.