First UK evacuation flight from the Middle East due to leave tonight | World | News

The first UK evacuation flight from the Middle East is due to leave tonight after the Government’s botched mercy mission descended into chaos.

Some 138,000 British nationals stuck in the war-torn region have registered for assistance but a chartered rescue plane due to leave the Omani capital, Muscat, failed to take off because the pilot was too tired.

It had been scheduled to depart at 7pm UK time on Wednesday, but could not leave due to the pilot’s hours clocking up.

Farcical scenes amid a growing global crisis mean only 1,000 have managed to leave on commercial flights so far.

Tensions boiled over with some passengers on board said to suffer panic attacks as they sat helplessly on the tarmac.

The British Embassy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sought to quell rising anger and urged UK citizens to « move indoors and remain inside » as fears grow that those in the Arabian Peninsula country are sitting ducks.

In official advice the embassy warned: « You should stay indoors or go to the nearest safe building. Stay away from windows. An interior stairwell or a room with as few windows as possible may offer additional protection.”

The UAE’s defence ministry said 181 of 196 ballistic missiles and 1,001 of 1,072 drones had been destroyed since « the start of the blatant Iranian aggression”.

Three people have been killed – from Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh – and a further 94 people injured since the attacks began.

Most of the Middle East has been drawn into conflict after the US and Israel launched a missile blitz on Iran last Saturday in strikes that killed the rogue state’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, members of his family, and top-ranking security officials.

The war has engulfed the entire region after Iran responded by striking major Gulf powers, including Qatar, which evacuated residents living close to the US embassy in Doha, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

Tehran’s intense wave of retaliatory missile and drone strikes aimed at US military infrastructure in the Middle East has brought the region to a standstill and affected hundreds of thousands of innocents.

Many are stranded in Dubai, the world’s biggest hub for air passenger traffic and a popular holiday destination for Britons, which was struck by Iranian missiles which damaged the exclusive Fairmont the Palm and the Burj Al Arab hotels, as well as its international airport.

In an extraordinary development talks started to buy Ukrainian-made drone interceptors to help counter attacks from Iranian Shahed suicide rockets amid fears Gulf states could run out of the means to defend themselves from the bombardment from Tehran.

Kyiv has become a global leader in fending off drone barrages through experience in the country’s four-year war with Russia and one official said: “It is obvious that there is a surge in interest in the Ukrainian drone interceptors which can intercept the Shahed for a very low cost.”

As the war entered its sixth day Iran issued a chilling threat to EU member states.

It warned countries in the bloc would « pay ‌the price, sooner or later » if they remained ‌silent on the US-Israeli strikes, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said without giving details.

Azerbaijan became the latest country to be drawn into the conflict after Iranian drones struck an airport in Nakhchivan while another came down close to a school.

Azerbaijan, an oil-rich ex-Soviet state, was the 12th state hit by Iran, and the tenth Muslim state.

The defence ministry in Baku said it was “preparing the necessary retaliatory measures” after the drone strikes, adding: “These acts of attack will not go unanswered.”

Meanwhile, Israel launched new strikes in Tehran and Lebanon where eight people have been killed.

As it conducted operations deeper in the country it intercepted more missiles launched from Iran.

An Iranian fighter exploded into a fireball after being hit by a missile fired from an Israeli F35l jet over Tehran.

Meanwhile, Iran claimed a US oil tanker was hit and set alight in the northern Persian Gulf as it continues to avenge Saturday’s strike and the sinking of one of its warships by a US submarine.

The tanker, named Sonangol Namibe, was Bahamas-flagged but owned and managed by Sonangol Marine Services based in Houston, Texas. It was struck by a blast while anchored near Iraq’s Khor al Zubair port.

It is the 14th attack on ships in the Gulf and near the strategically-important Strait of Hormuz since March 1.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it maintains full control of the Strait which handles about 20% of global oil supply.

Six US servicemen were killed in an Iranian strike on Kuwait while in Israel 10 civilians have died, including nine in a hit on Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem on March 1. There have been no reported casualties for the Israel Defence ‌Forces.

The number of Iranians killed in US-Israeli strikes now stands at 1,230, according to unverified reports.