The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Thursday cancelled Class 10 board examinations scheduled up to March 11 in several Middle East countries due to rising tensions in the region, officials said. The board added that it will later announce how the results for these students will be declared.

"Due to the current situation in parts of the Middle East--Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE, the board has decided to cancel class 10 exams scheduled till March 11,” said CBSE Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj.

For Class 12 students, the examination planned for March 7 has been postponed, and authorities said the situation will be assessed before deciding on upcoming exams. Earlier, the board had already postponed exams scheduled on March 2, 5 and 6 for both Classes 10 and 12 in the region.

Tensions in the Middle East have escalated after the United States and Israel launched military strikes on Iran on February 28, in which Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed.

Following the strikes, Iran has carried out a series of attacks mainly targeting Israel and American military bases in several Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.