SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines said on Wednesday (Jan 8) it was diverting all flight routes from Iranian airspace.

The move comes after Iran said it launched a missile attack on US-led forces in Iraq in the early hours of Wednesday in retaliation for a US drone strike on Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, whose killing has raised fears of a wider war in the Middle East.



“All SIA flight routes are being diverted from the Iranian airspace,” the airline said in an email, without giving a reason for the diversion.

Iran on Wednesday said the missiles were in response to a US strike last week that killed Iran's Soleimani and Iraqi top commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

Security sources told AFP that nine rockets hit the sprawling Ain al-Asad airbase in the country's west, the largest of the Iraqi military compounds where foreign troops are based.



Iran has claimed responsibility for the attack.





In a statement, the Pentagon said Tehran had fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles from Iranian territory against at least two Iraqi military bases hosting US-led coalition personnel.

"At approximately 5.30pm (2230 GMT) on Jan 7, Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against US military and coalition forces in Iraq," Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement.

"It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting US military and coalition personnel at Ain al-Asad and Irbil."