ISLAMABAD: A spokesman for Pakistan’s national carrier said on Wednesday PIA was suspending the use of Iran’s airspace until further notice, hours after Tehran launched missile attacks on Israel, which promised to retaliate as fears of a wider war in the Middle East intensified.

Washington said it would work with longtime ally Israel to make sure Iran faced “severe consequences” for Tuesday’s attack, which Israel said involved more than 180 ballistic missiles.

The United Nations Security Council scheduled a meeting about the Middle East for today, Wednesday, and the European Union called for an immediate ceasefire.

“Until the situation becomes clear, Iranian airspace will not be used,” a spokesman for PIA said. 

PIA uses two corridors of Iran’s airspace: a northern corridor used by flights to Canada and Turkiye and a southern corridor utilized for UAE, Bahrain, Doha and Saudi Arabia flights. 

Iran’s airstrikes marked it biggest ever military blow against Israel.

Sirens sounded across the country and explosions rattled Jerusalem and the Jordan River valley as the entire population was told to move into bomb shelters.

No injuries were reported in Israel, but one man was killed in the occupied West Bank, authorities there said.

Iran described the campaign as defensive and solely aimed at Israeli military facilities. Iran’s state news agency said three Israeli military bases had been targeted.

Tehran said its assault was a response to Israeli killings of militant leaders and aggression in Lebanon against Hezbollah and in Gaza.

Israel activated air defenses against Iran’s bombardment and most missiles were intercepted “by Israel and a defensive coalition led by the United States,” Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a video on X, adding: “Iran’s attack is a severe and dangerous escalation.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to hit back.

“Iran made a big mistake tonight — and it will pay for it,” he said at the outset of an emergency political security cabinet meeting late on Tuesday, according to a statement.

Iran’s General Staff of the Armed Forces said in a statement carried by state media that any Israeli response would be met with “vast destruction” of Israeli infrastructure. It also said it would target regional assets of any Israeli ally that got involved.

Fears that Iran and the US could be drawn into a regional war have risen with Israel’s growing assault on Lebanon in the past two weeks, including the start of a ground operation there on Monday, and its year-old conflict in the Gaza Strip.

With inputs from Reuters

KARACHI: Pakistan’s fight against poliovirus suffered another setback on Tuesday as two new cases were reported in the southern Sindh province, the country’s polio program said, bringing the nationwide tally to 26 this year.
The latest cases, one in the Karachi East district and the other in Sujawal district, underscored the persistent threat posed by the poliovirus in Pakistan. The National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication confirmed that the virus was found in environmental samples in both areas, indicating active circulation within communities.
Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication, Ayesha Raza Farooq, expressed deep concern over the continued threat to Pakistani children, emphasizing the importance of vaccination as the only effective way to protect them against polio, a disease that can cause irreversible paralysis.
“There is no cure for polio. Once a child is paralyzed, it is forever and irreversible,” she said in a statement, urging parents, caretakers, teachers, community elders and neighbors to understand the urgency of the situation and take immediate steps to get all children in their care immediately vaccinated.
“The decisions we take today are extremely critical to protect the future of our children.”
The South Asian country has reported 26 polio cases this year, including 15 from Balochistan, seven from Sindh, two from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
Farooq said one child affected by polio means hundreds of children around them could be silent carriers of the virus.
“No child anywhere is safe until all children in Pakistan are repeatedly vaccinated for polio, building a wall of protection so the virus cannot break through,” she explained.
The Pakistan polio program said it was implementing a strategic roadmap to control virus spread and interrupt transmission by mid-2025.
As part of this roadmap, it said a mass vaccination campaign concluded last month that reached 33 million children in 115 districts of the country and a second vaccination drive is being planned from October 28.