Lord Cameron condemns Iran attack on Israel 'in strongest terms' in call with Iranian foreign minister

Foreign Secretary demands Tehran ‘de-escalate’ amid calls for Israel to show restraint
An anti-missile system operates after Iran launched drones and missiles towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon
An anti-missile system operates from Ashkelon after Iran launched drones and missiles towards Israel
REUTERS
Daniel Keane14 April 2024

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron condemned Iran’s attack on Israel “in the strongest terms” during a call with his Iranian counterpart on Sunday.

In a post on X, Lord Cameron said he had demanded that Tehran “de-escalate” after Iran’s military launched hundreds of drones and more than 30 cruise missiles at Israel on Saturday night.

The assault was launched in response to a strike widely blamed on Israel on an Iranian consular building in Syria earlier this month, which killed two Iranian generals.

An Air Force base in southern Israel was hit but continued to operate as normal and a 7-year-old child was seriously hurt by shrapnel. There were no other reports of serious damage.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said that Lord Cameron had summoned the charge d’affaires of the Iranian embassy to the Foreign Office following Tehran’s attack.

They added: “At a time of great tension in the Middle East, this was a profoundly dangerous and unnecessary escalation by Iran.

“The UK calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the civilian ship MSC Aries and its crew, which was seized by Iranian armed forces yesterday in international waters.”

The assault has sparked fears of a significant regional conflict, six months after war erupted in Gaza following Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7.

Israeli military spokesman rear admiral Daniel Hagari said 99 per cent of more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles had been shot down outside the country’s borders, with aircraft intercepting more than 10 cruise missiles.

He said it was “time for calm heads to prevail”, adding that the UK would be working with allies to de-escalate the situation.

US President Biden urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “take the win” and said that Washington would not support a counter-offensive if Israel decided to retaliate.

Two senior Israeli ministers signalled on Sunday that retaliation by Israel was not imminent and that it would not act alone.

"We will build a regional coalition and exact the price from Iran in the fashion and timing that is right for us," minister Benny Gantz said ahead of a war cabinet meeting.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant also said Israel had an opportunity to form a strategic alliance "against this grave threat by Iran which is threatening to mount nuclear explosives on these missiles, which could be an extremely grave threat," he said. Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons.

It came as leaders of the G7 “unequivocally” condemned Iran’s unprecedented attack and warned that the risk of an “uncontrollable regional escalation” must be avoided.

In a joint statement following an urgent call on Sunday, countries including the UK and US said they “stand ready to take further measures now and in response to further destabilising initiatives”.

The statement released shortly after the talks on Sunday afternoon said: “We, the leaders of the G7, unequivocally condemn in the strongest terms Iran’s direct and unprecedented attack against Israel.

“Iran fired hundreds of drones and missiles towards Israel. Israel, with the help of its partners, defeated the attack. We express our full solidarity and support to Israel and its people and reaffirm our commitment towards its security.

“With its actions, Iran has further stepped toward the destabilisation of the region and risks provoking an uncontrollable regional escalation. This must be avoided.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in