Germany's Lufthansa suspends flights to and from Tehran amid Middle East crisis

Germany's Lufthansa said on Wednesday it suspended flights to and from Tehran from April 6 until probably April 11, "due to the current situation in the Middle East".

Countries in the region and the United States have been on high alert and preparing for a possible attack by Iran in response to a suspected bombing by Israeli warplanes of the Iranian consulate in Syria on April 1.

"We are constantly monitoring the situation in the Middle East and are in close contact with the authorities. The safety of our guests and crew members is Lufthansa's top priority," a spokesperson for the company told Reuters.

The spokesperson said the company did not proactively announce the suspension when it went into effect on Saturday.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Wednesday that Israel "must be punished and it shall be" for attacking the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus.

In an apparent response to Khamenei, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that Israel will respond if Iran attacks Israel from its own soil.

The United States and its allies believe major missile or drone strikes by Iran or its proxies against military and government targets in Israel are imminent, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday evening, citing U.S. and Israeli security sources.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards shot down a Ukraine International Airlines passenger flight on Jan. 8, 2020 shortly after it took off from Tehran Airport at a time of heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington over the killing of a top Iranian Guards commander in a U.S. drone strike at Baghdad airport.

Later, Tehran said that the shooting-down of the Ukrainian was a "disastrous mistake" by forces who were on high alert.

In retaliation for the killing