Repatriation of 31 Filipinos delayed due to closure of Qatar airspace: DMW

MANILA — The repatriation of 31 Filipinos from the Middle East hit a snag on Tuesday due to the closure of Qatar’s airspace after Iran fired a series of missiles at the Gulf state targeting a US military facility there, the Department of Migrant Workers said.

DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said the 31 Filipinos were “safe and sound” despite the delay of their commercial flight to the Philippines from Qatar.

The group included 26 repatriates from Israel, 3 from Jordan, and one each from Palestine and Qatar.

Cacdac said they were awaiting confirmation of their new flight schedule after the Qatari airspace reopened.

He added that Philippine Embassy personnel were “on the ground providing our OFWs…the necessary assistance and coordination with the Qatari authorities.”  

Qatar says response to Iran attack is a 'sovereign' issue

The officials urged the public “to be discerning and refrain from sharing rumors and/or unverified information that would cause panic.” 

He added that OFWs in the Middle East should stay “calm but vigilant.”

“I urge all our OFWs to rely only on official government advisories from the Department of Migrant Workers, the Philippine Embassy, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and trusted authorities,” he said.

Iran announced it had launched missiles at a US base in Qatar Monday in retaliation for American strikes on key nuclear facilities, with US President Donald Trump shrugging off the response as "very weak" and saying it was now time to make peace.

A US defense official said no one was hurt in the attack -- which Trump said Iran had given advance notice of -- and oil prices sank afterwards as traders breathed a sigh of relief at what one analyst called the "somewhat measured" response.

Qatar, which lies 190 kilometers south of Iran and is home to the largest US military facility in the Middle East, said its "air defenses successfully intercepted a missile attack targeting Al Udeid Air Base".

Iran's National Security Council confirmed having targeted the base "in response to the US aggressive and insolent action against Iran's nuclear sites and facilities".

After more than a week of Israeli strikes on nuclear and military targets across Iran, the United States joined its ally's campaign on Sunday, carrying out attacks on three key Iranian nuclear facilities, including on an underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordo using massive bunker-busting bombs.

"Iran has officially responded to our Obliteration of their Nuclear Facilities with a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform after the attack, thanking Tehran "for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured".

Adding that Iran had "gotten it all out of their 'system'," he said: "Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same."

Trump says Israel and Iran agree to 'total ceasefire'

— With a report from Agence France-Presse