Pakistan tightens airspace security as Israel-Iran tensions rise

Following Iran’s airspace closure, flights are rerouted via Muscat

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Following an Israeli strike on Iran, Pakistan has commenced close monitoring of air traffic entering its airspace, according to officials.

Pakistani air traffic control authorities are now reviewing all incoming flights from the western sector to ensure secure entry into the country, Express News reported.

Sources report that due to Iran’s closure of its airspace, flights that previously passed through Iranian airspace are now rerouted through Muscat.

This adjustment affects several international routes and has led to intensified security checks on aircraft entering from the west.

Officials confirmed that all flights bound for Pakistan are granted entry only after clearance. Enhanced airspace monitoring is part of a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of flights amid increased regional tensions.

Yesterday, Iran’s military said that only radar systems were damaged in pre-dawn Israeli strikes on Tehran and other provinces and said it was prioritising a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.

“Thanks to the timely performance of the country’s air defences, the attacks caused limited damage and a few radar systems were damaged,” the armed forces general staff said in a statement read out on state television.

“A large number of missiles were intercepted and enemy aircraft were prevented from entering the country’s airspace,” the statement said.

Israeli aircraft were reduced to firing a “small number of long-range missiles with very light warheads from a distance”, inside the US-patrolled airspace of neighbouring Iraq, it added.

The general staff held back from any threat of immediate retaliation. “While reserving its legal and legitimate right to respond at the appropriate moment, Iran is prioritising the establishment of a lasting ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon,” it said.