EgyptDailyNews - The Civil Aviation Regulatory Authority in Jordan announced, on Saturday, the temporary closure of the Kingdom’s airspace to the movement of all incoming, departing and transiting aircraft, “in light of the escalation of surrounding risks in the region,” according to the official “Al-Mamlaka” channel, citing a statement by the authority.

The Civil Aviation Authority statement in Jordan said that it "has taken a decision to close Jordanian airspace to all incoming, departing and transiting aircraft temporarily, starting at 20:00 UTC, that is, 11:00 pm local time, for the next several hours, and this will be continuously updated and reviewed according to developments." ".

The statement indicated that the decision came “in order to preserve the safety and security of civil aviation in Jordanian airspace, and in light of the escalation of surrounding risks in the region and after assessing the risks in accordance with internationally followed standards,” according to the statement.

This comes during escalating tensions in the Middle East, amid warnings of a possible Iranian strike in response to an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

Two security sources in the region said that Jordanian air defenses are ready to intercept and shoot down any Iranian drones or aircraft that violate Jordanian airspace. They added that the army is also on high alert and that radar systems are monitoring drone activity.