Russia Issues Warning Against Travel To Middle East

A view shows the first Airbus A350-900 aircraft of Russia's flagship airline Aeroflot during a media presentation at Sheremetyevo International Airport outside Moscow, Russia March 4, 2020.
A view shows the first Airbus A350-900 aircraft of Russia's flagship airline Aeroflot during a media presentation at Sheremetyevo International Airport outside Moscow, Russia March 4, 2020.

Russia has advised citizens not to travel to the Middle East as a regional proxy war orchestrated by Iran continues to escalate.

“We strongly recommend that Russian citizens refrain from traveling to the region, especially to Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, except in cases of extreme necessity,” read the statement issued Thursday by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

In October, Russia issued a similar travel warning after Iran-backed Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing around 1,200 people and abducting at least 250 hostages to the Gaza Strip.

“The tense situation in the Middle East region persists … The situation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone, as well as in the area of the ‘Blue Line’ between Lebanon and Israel, remains unstable,” added Russian Foreign Ministry in its Thursday statement.

The announcement came hours after German airlines Lufthansa suspended flights to and from Tehran for 24 hours amid concerns of a potential military escalation.

Iran has been threatening to retaliate against an Israeli precision missile strike on April 1 that killed two top IRGC generals and five other officers in the Iranian consulate compound in Syrian capital Damascus.

On Wednesday, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, said that Israel "must be punished and it shall be" for the deadly offensive.

Since the Hamas invasion of Israel, Iran's proxies in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon have become embroiled in the proxy war against Israeli and US targets.

Citing unnamed American and Israeli officials, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that a major missile or drone attack by Iran or its proxies on Israel seems imminent in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz warned that Israel will respond if Iran attacks Israel from its own soil. "If Iran attacks from its own territory, Israel will respond and attack in Iran," he wrote on X.