Donald Trump says ‘the killing in Iran is stopping’, as Iranian airspace closes and some western countries urge their citizens to leave
Iran protests: live updates
Why western diplomats are wary of predicting end days for Iran’s regime
Iran closed its airspace to almost all flights early on Thursday, and Lufthansa said its flights would avoid Iranian and Iraqi airspace “until further notice”. The group, which includes Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Discover Airlines, Eurowings, Swiss and ITA Airways, said in a statement that some flights could be cancelled.
In contrast to indications of an imminent US strike on Iran, Donald Trump said he had been told that “the killing in Iran is stopping”. He added: “There’s no plan for executions, or an execution, or executions – so I’ve been told that on good authority.” Earlier, reports suggested the US president had decided on military action but it was unclear what form it might take. On Wednesday night, Trump said: “We’re going to watch and see what the process is,” adding that he’s been given “a very good statement by people that are aware of what’s going on”.
