In statements to Lusa, Carlos Lima, one of the members of the group, who travelled to Jordan on holiday on the 5th, explained that the return flight to Portugal was scheduled for Sunday, but that the travellers were warned that the flight would be postponed until Monday night.

However, the airspace is currently closed, after having temporarily reopened on Saturday.

The Portuguese, most of them elderly, have been in Amman, the Jordanian capital, which is on the route of the missiles exchanged since Friday between Tel Aviv and Tehran, in recent days.

Carlos Lima reported that he frequently hears sirens in the city and missiles fly “at high speed” over the hotel where the Portuguese are staying, “located in one of the tallest buildings in the city of Amman”.

The tourists are “quite worried” and the families in Portugal are “in a panic”, he described.

“These Portuguese people are in the middle of an unprecedented conflict, the outcome and consequences of which no one can predict, so it is essential that the Portuguese authorities immediately ensure their urgent return, and they must decide how to do this, whether through the scheduled flight or through a special rescue operation”, said Carlos Lima.

The Portuguese lamented that the group has not received any contact from national entities.

Given this lack of contact, the group will attempt to travel by land to the south of Jordan today and cross into Egypt, hoping to reach Cairo and from there, board a flight to Portugal.

“The Portuguese State is not prepared to support its citizens in a situation like this, at a time when the world is in great turmoil, with serious armed conflicts. The Portuguese State does not seem to see this as a priority,” criticized Carlos Lima.

“Our authorities cannot react in this way, this is very serious, and it must be a top priority within institutional obligations,” he maintained.

Contacted by Lusa, a source from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE) said that the Government has been monitoring the situation of these Portuguese citizens in recent days.

The Israeli attacks, carried out by 200 planes against 100 targets, mainly hit Tehran (north), the uranium enrichment plants of Fordow and Natanz (center), the national airport of Mehrabad and several military bases.

Iran retaliated with hundreds of missiles aimed at the cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

The conflict has already left hundreds dead and more than a thousand injured on both sides.