UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak has iterated calls made by fellow world leaders for Israel to show restraint in its response to the weekend’s attack by Iran, as the international community seeks to prevent a full-scale regional conflict.
Updating the House of Commons for the first time since the weekend’s largely unsuccessful attack involving more than 300 drones and missiles, Sunak told Members of Parliament that he was urgently working with allies to try to prevent any escalation.
His statement followed similar calls by the US President, Joe Biden, and the French President, Emmanuel Macron, and came as Israeli ministers concluded a cabinet meeting to discuss retaliatory options, reportedly without agreement.
Sunak said he would plead directly for calm in a call with Benjamin Netanyahu, although sources said such a call was unlikely to happen on Monday.
“I will shortly be speaking to Prime Minister Netanyahu to express our solidarity with Israel in the face of this attack, and to discuss how we can prevent further escalation.
“All sides must show restraint. We will continue together with our allies to urge calm heads to prevail and de-escalation.”
Rishi Sunak
Keir Starmer backed Sunak’s calls for restraint, although he was more critical of the original Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate.
“We must proceed calmly, carefully and with restraint,” he stated.
“Because if diplomacy takes centre stage, and it must, then we also need to be clear, diplomatic premises should not be targeted and attacked, that is a point of principle,” he added.
Prior to Sunak’s call for calm, David Cameron, the Foreign Secretary told a news agency, “We are saying Israel has a right to respond but we do not support a retaliatory strike.”
“There are times where we have to be smart as well as tough, where we have to use head as well as heart,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mhairi Black, the SNP’s deputy leader at Westminster, condemned the acts of violence perpetrated by Iran.
However, she stressed that if acts of violence by Iran are to be condemned, acts of violence by Israel should be condemned too. And she says that, if sending hundreds of missiles and drones was disproportionate as a response to “an isolated attack on an embassy,” then what is happening in Gaza is also disproportionate as a response to the Hamas attack of October 7, 2024.
In response, Sunak said that there is “no equivalence … whatsoever” between what Israel did and what Iran did and “to suggest otherwise it’s simply wrong”.
G7 Working On Sanctions
Sunak said he was working with G7 partners on further sanctions against Tehran, as he came under pressure to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and to reimpose previous sanctions that were suspended under the Iran nuclear deal.
The G7 is comprised of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
“We are urgently working with our allies to see what steps we can take together in a coordinated fashion to deter and condemn what Iran is doing,” Rishi Sunak said in the British parliament, citing discussions among Group of Seven (G7) leaders over the weekend.
“I spoke to my fellow G7 leaders; we are united in our condemnation of this attack.”
“Yesterday at the G7 we agreed to work together on further measures to counter the Iranian regime and its properties,” he said.
He said, “It was agreed that we should coordinate those actions and that work is now under way.”
He added that the coordination of any measures, including sanctions, among allies would ensure they have maximum impact on Iran and those sanctioned.
Earlier, Italy, which holds the rotating presidency of the G7, said it was also open to new sanctions against individuals taking hostile action against Israel.
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