Qatar suspends air traffic, foreigners told to shelter amid regional crisis
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Police officers standing guard in front of the US embassy in Doha in 2012.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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DOHA – Qatar temporarily suspended air traffic across the country on June 23 and some Western embassies advised their citizens there to shelter in place after Iran threatened retaliation for US strikes on its nuclear sites.
Gas-rich Qatar, which lies 190km south of Iran across the Gulf, is home to the US’ largest military base in the region
“The competent authorities announce the temporary suspension of air traffic in the country’s airspace, as part of a set of precautionary measures taken based on developments in the region,” the foreign ministry said.
It added the authorities were monitoring the situation “in coordination with regional and international partners”.
Earlier, the US embassy in Qatar advised Americans there not to go out, with other Western embassies echoing the warning.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we recommend American citizens shelter in place until further notice,” the US embassy said on its website.
Britain and Canada later cited the US security alert in their own recommendations to nationals.
Iran’s armed forces threatened on June 23 to inflict “serious, unpredictable consequences” on the US after it joined its ally Israel’s campaign against the Islamic republic, carrying out heavy strikes on three nuclear sites
In Bahrain, a close neighbour of Qatar that hosts the US Fifth Fleet, the American embassy “temporarily shifted a portion of its employees to local telework”, it said on X.
The Bahraini authorities had already told most government employees to work from home until further notice, citing “regional circumstances”.
Following the US warning in Doha, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said such statements 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.”
On June 22, the US State Department advised Americans worldwide to “exercise increased caution” because of the war between Israel and Iran.
After Israel’s first strikes on Iran on June 13, the US embassy in Qatar had told its staff and other Americans to exercise caution and “limit non-essential travel to Al Udeid Air Base”. AFP
