France urges nationals living in Iran to ‘temporarily leave’

PARIS: France on Sunday urged nationals living in Iran to “temporarily leave” if they could, warning Iranian airspace and airports could close as fears mount of a Middle East conflict.

“Due to the increased risk of military escalation and in view of the risk of Iranian airspace and airports being closed, it is recommended that those French residents with the means to do so temporarily leave the country,” the foreign ministry said.

Its warning came two days after it called on all French visitors to leave the Islamic republic as soon as possible.

France earlier on Sunday called on its citizens in Lebanon, to the north of Israel, to leave the country “as soon as possible”.

The killing of the political chief of Palestinian group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in a pre-dawn attack on Wednesday in Tehran blamed on Israel has deepened fears of a regional war.

Israel said it had killed a senior military commander of the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah movement in Beirut’s southern suburbs just hours earlier.

The United States has said it is moving warships and fighter jets to the Middle East to protect US personnel and defend Israel.

Iran has said it expects Hezbollah to hit deeper inside Israel and no longer be confined to military targets.

Haniyeh’s killing comes almost 10 months into an Israeli military offensive that has ravaged the Gaza Strip, sparked by an unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel.