Sirens heard in Iran

Sources contacted who follow Tehran closely could not initially confirm more details about the sirens or flight diversion.

By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
A MAN WALKS on a Tehran street this week. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared this week that ‘from Sunday we can sell our weapons to whomever we want and buy weapons from whomever we want.’ (photo credit: REUTERS)
A MAN WALKS on a Tehran street this week. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared this week that ‘from Sunday we can sell our weapons to whomever we want and buy weapons from whomever we want.’
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Sirens were heard in western Tehran on Friday night. It was a rainy and cold evening there and in several videos posted online, the sirens can be heard in the distance. They apparently began around midnight Tehran time and videos appeared online just after that. A Turkish Airlines flight appeared to be diverted from Tehran airport and did a series of holding patterns and circles around the capital after the sirens were heard, leading to questions about whether a serious incident had occurred.  

The sirens wailed in the distance, but users said they could be heard from a central area near the airport called Shahr Ara. They went on for many minutes, with one woman saying she heard them for up to ten minutes. There was no confirmation initially in Iranian media about the reason for the sirens.
The region is on edge due to tensions between Iran and the US, as well as tensions with Israel. In recent days, Iranian officials have threatened the Jewish state. Iran’s foreign minister was in Turkey on Friday for high level meetings to discuss greater cooperation. Ankara has supported the US returning to the Iran Deal.  
A bomb exploded in India on Friday near Israel’s embassy. Iran in the past has sought to target Israelis abroad and Israeli diplomatic posts. Over the summer, several Iranian facilities were affected by mysterious explosions, including the nuclear facility at Natanz and a Khojir rocket facility near Tehran. Tehran has dismissed what it calls Israeli “military rhetoric” in recent days and warned Jerusalem against any aggression. Israel has opposed Iran entrenching in Syria as well as its regional threats.
Sources who follow Tehran closely could not initially confirm more details about the sirens or flight diversion to The Jerusalem Post. Turkish Airlines 874 landed in Baku around 1:30 a.m. Tehran time after being diverted, spending more than an hour making its way from its intended destination of Tehran to Baku. Other Turkish flights scheduled for 2:10 a.m. and 3:10 a.m. did not appear diverted, but reports did indicate that in Tehran, some experienced electricity outages.
Rumors circulated online about what might have caused the incident, including claims that a plane flew into a restricted area. Iranian authorities appeared to try to calm the rumors as they persisted into the early hours. One official said it was a burglar alarm that went off due to some accidental technical problem, causing some to mock him on social media. 


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