Officials in Iran have extended the closure of the country's airspace until 05:00 Oct. 3 in anticipation of a military strike in retaliation for the nation's late Oct. 1 missile attack against Israel. All domestic and international flights to the country's airports, including Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA), remain suspended
Significant disruptions will likely affect flights transiting or serving Iranian airports over the short term. Residual flight disruptions are likely even after the suspension is lifted as carriers reposition aircraft and work through their passenger backlogs.
Iran’s decision to launch about 180 high-speed ballistic missiles at Israel indicates that Tehran sought to inflict serious damage in Tuesday’s night attack, unlike the well-telegraphed drone and missile attack in April.
Their sheer speed makes ballistic weapons challenging to intercept, but the initial reports of no fatalities within Israel and one in the West Bank would suggest despite the numbers of missiles launched it was a military failure, though some of the weapons or fragments appear to have struck the ground.
Tehran’s Emad and Ghadr missiles, used earlier this year, are estimated to travel at six times the speed of sound on impact or more, and take 12 minutes to fly from Iran. That would be more than 4,600mph. But Iran said it deployed the even faster, hypersonic Fatteh-2, with a maximum speed estimated at 10,000mph.
