Warning issued by Germany, after the decision of the country's largest airline regarding Iran

Germany has issued a new directive warning the country's airlines not to enter Iranian airspace, the Flightradar24 platform announced on Wednesday, shortly after Lufthansa reorganized its flight operations in the Middle East amid rising tensions in the region, Reuters reports.

Lufthansa, Germany's largest airline, announced on Wednesday that it will avoid Iranian and Iraqi airspace until further notice, and will only operate daily flights to Tel Aviv and Amman from Wednesday until next Monday. Some flights may also be canceled as a result of these measures, the German airline added in a statement.

Nationwide anti-government protests in Iran began in late December last year due to economic hardship and have intensified in the past month, with several protesters killed as authorities moved to block internet access to quell the growing unrest.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene in support of the protesters in Iran. The protests in Iran follow a period of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which have heightened tensions across the region.

The situation has led to increased volatility in the markets. Investors turned to safe-haven assets such as gold and the dollar.

The German airline group said affected passengers would be automatically rescheduled and proactively contacted, and added that crews flying to Israel and Amman would return directly without staying overnight in those cities.

Separately, Italian airline ITA Airways, in which Lufthansa Group is now a majority shareholder, said it would also suspend night flights to Tel Aviv until next Tuesday.

Air carriers such as flydubai and Turkish Airlines have canceled several flights to Iran in the past week.