British Airways has suspended all its flights to Dubai and Doha, Qatar, in the wake of last night's US bombing raids on Iran.

The flag carrier airline said its hand had been forced by "recent events" - and said the move is in the interests of passenger safety.

"As a result of recent events, we have adjusted our flight schedule to ensure the safety of our customers and crew, which is always our top priority," a BA spokesman said.

"We are contacting our customers to advise them of their options while we work through this developing situation."

As many as 1,000 passengers are now said to be waiting in the UAE to fly home after British Airways cancelled four flights from London Heathrow to Dubai.

One BA flight had departed Heathrow for Dubai at 9.53pm on Saturday before before being diverted.

That plane eventually landed in Zurich after nine hours in the air.

British Airways has already suspended flights to Bahrain until June 30.

While fellow flag carrier Singapore Airlines said it had cancelled two flights between Singapore and Dubai on Sunday after undertaking "a security assessment of the geopolitical situation in the Middle East".

American Airlines, United Airlines and Finnair had all cancelled flights to either Doha or Dubai before the overnight strikes were carried out.

And early this morning, Israel closed its own airspace - but local carrier Arkia said it would be restarting rescue flights to bring back Israelis stranded abroad as soon as possible.