HiHo

I don't believe the hype. The place has only recently become sufficiently interesting for Lady HiHo warrant it a visit. Please don't panic it is unbecoming, not to mention un British. The American's have made their gesture and the Iranians have made one back and life in the middle east will go on, or not for some, and the world will yarn because that's what always happens in the middle east. Keep calm and carry on whilst having a plan to implement in the event of something going very wrong. Those of you living in the buffer zone UAE might like to look in to the KSA holiday visa process. The empty quarter is a lovely place for quiet contemplation at this time of year. I my self have a little road trip and cruse planned for a rainy day. In the mean time i'm not planning on letting anything stop me from seeing Jamerque in two weeks if I can help it.

Millhouse

Probably right, now both sides can come to the table to negotiate something. Or the war picks up and is played out in Iraq (previously Lebanon, Syria) - the world will move on as no one really cares.

scot47

That crazy in The White House has access to THE BOMB !

martinbkk

You'd have to think Qatar would be fairly safe. Large reason for the blockade was their general friendliness and support for Iran and included withdrawing from the coalition fighting in Yemen. Iran granted Qatar access to its airspace when others denied it. At the same time the US military maintains its CENCOM for central and South Asia in Qatar having reloacated from Saudi some years ago with both large army and air force bases. Sometimes it helps to be everyone's friend.

I'm going to Doha next week just to meet up with friends and hang out. No intention to change my plans, at least in the absence of Trumpageddon.

HiHo

So that's it, a very friendly lot really, just misunderstood. They even let the Ukrainians use their airspace. Whats not to love?

co durham boy

Remember the Qatari's run with the Foxes and the Hounds . Al Udeid air base is one of the biggest in the region with it's central command of F22's and B52's. That base would be central to any form of escalation by air .

IKnowNothing

And now a Ukrainian flight is down having taken off from Tehran - coincidence? Or rogue/misdirected missile?

Take a look at the video on Clinton News Network

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/07/m...hnk/index.html

scrubbedexpat141

Very sad news, looks to be on fire the whole way down, which immediately allows people to claim it was shot down. Guess we'll never know the truth other than it's a tragedy for those on board.

HiHo

There is a lot of Russian hardware in Iran so they will probably be able to blame it on the locals. Like you say we will never know beyond the tragedy. Proxy wars are fought without borders.

carcajou

Unconfirmed reports of an accidental shoot down by Iran.

If it was "technical issues" then the Iranian authorities will have conducted the fastest airline crash investigation in history.

I imagine UIA through Kiev would have been a very popular low-cost option for all the Iranian families living in Continental Europe.

IKnowNothing

Casualties:-

Iran 82
Canada 63
Ukraine 11
Sweden 10
Afghanistan 4
Germany 3
United Kingdom 3

Canadians is very high, you wouldn't have thought so many would be flying to Ukraine - maybe they're Iranians with Canadian citizenship?

Anyway, passport/nationality aside, it's still 167 people dead and my heart goes out to the families.

carcajou

Yes, very high probability they were Iranian-Canadian who were connecting through Kiev.

Gavtek

It went down "moments after taking off", would need to be a colossal level of incompetence for an anti-aircraft gun operator to mistakenly shoot down an aircraft on the departure flight path from the country's busiest airport.

scrubbedexpat141

Or to be a really disgruntled, upset and angry Iranian gunner.

Or it's just bollocks and the plane's engines broke.

carcajou

It supposedly was flying properly up to 8,000 feet.

Ukraine International Airlines has suspended its Tehran flights indefinitely.