France and Germany ask their citizens to leave Iran amid growing risk of military escalation in the Middle East – POLITICO

He also reaffirmed that French citizens should “absolutely refrain from traveling to Iran, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine.”

Separately, German airline Lufthansa announced on Sunday that it would not operate any flights to Amman, Erbil and Tel Aviv until Tuesday and to Beirut and Tehran until Thursday at the earliest. The announcement comes after the airline already suspended flights to Tehran last Wednesday, bracing for the prospect of Iranian retaliation against Israel following a deadly strike on the Iranian embassy in Syria.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres request for “an immediate cessation” of hostilities, adding that “neither the region nor the world can afford another war.”

Adding to calls to avoid an escalation of the conflict, Pope Francis warned against entering “a spiral of violence” that risks exacerbating the conflict in the Middle East. “Enough war, enough attacks, enough violence. Yes to dialogue, yes to peace,” he said to the crowd gathered in Saint-Pierre Square.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said G7 leaders would hold a video conference on Sunday afternoon to coordinate a united response to Tehran’s revenge attack on Israel. Iran launched more than 300 missiles and drones against Israel overnight, but 99% of them were intercepted, the Israeli military said.