Iran's nuclear capability 'more advanced than ever', warns Sunak

No military options come without complications and though the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) are undoubtedly strong, they face many complications in considering whether, and how, to strike back against the barrage of drones and missiles Iran launched against them at the weekend.

Many strategic analysts in the IDF argue that the Iranian attack showed that deterrence had failed and therefore must be restored with a strong attack that would make Israel's enemies fear to provoke it again.

Others have maintained that running the risk of Israel being pulled into a greater conflict with Iran at such a critical juncture in the Gaza war could result in their falling into exactly the trap Hamas was trying to set for them on 7 October - a general war that would threaten Israel's very existence.

Read the full analysis from Sky News here

Four Israeli soldiers have been injured inside Lebanon, one seriously, after being hit by bombs planted by Hezbollah.

The incident was confirmed by the Israel Defense Forces and came after the Lebanese Shia group said it had ambushed Israeli troops.

The IDF indicated the incident took place during “operational activity” by a Golani Brigade reconnaissance unit and combat engineering unit on the Lebanese side of the border, several hundred metres from Israel’s fence.

Read the full story from the Guardian here

Defence secretary Grant Shapps has said UK arms exports to Israel are “relatively small”, amounting to £42 million in 2022, according to Parliamentary research published in in February.

Since 2008, the UK has licenced arms worth over £574 million to Israel, according to analysis of Government export data by Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), a UK based pressure group that seeks an end to the global arms trade.

A significant proportion of this total was in 2017, when £221 million worth of licences were approved. CAAT says the single biggest licence in value, worth £182 million, was issued in October 2017, for “technology for military radars”.

Its analysis shows many of the licences granted were for components for military radars, electronic warfare and targeting equipment. Licences were also granted for components of aircraft and helicopters.

The campaign group has more recently drawn attention to UK industry contributions to F-35 combat aircraft, which it says are "currently being used in the bombardment of Gaza".

The government says export licences are kept under review (PDF) and can be amended, suspended, refused or revoked as circumstances require.

The Scottish Labour leader has said the UK supply of arms to Israel should end following "clear breaches" of international humanitarian law.

In a speech to Scotland’s biggest trade union body on Monday, Anas Sarwar said the continued retaliation on Gaza by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government "undermined the cause of peace".

Sarwar has previously called for a ceasefire but has now gone further to claim Israel had committed breaches of international law by “attacking aid workers, innocent civilians and basic infrastructure”.

He told the STUC congress in Dundee: “I believe there are clear breaches of international humanitarian law.

“Attacking aid workers is a breach of international humanitarian law, targeting innocent civilians is a breach of international humanitarian law, attacking the basic infrastructure of schools is a breach of international humanitarian law.

“And it is very clear that if there is a legal question on arms from the UK going to Israel being involved in breaches of international humanitarian law, then there should not be the sale of those arms to Israel. That’s why I believe we must look at that.”

Labour MP Zarah Sultana sked Sunak about reports that the government has received advice from lawyers that Israel is flouting international law.

Alicia Kearns, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, made the claim in late-March, adding that the UK has not disclosed the legal advice it received as it continues to allow arms exports to Israel.

“Was the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee telling the truth – yes or no?” Sultana asked the prime minister today.

Sunak responded: “We have one of the most robust arms export licensing control regimes in the entire world. We have previously assessed that Israel is committed and capable of complying with IHL [international humanitarian law], but we regularly review our assessment as she would expect.

“As the foreign secretary [Lord David Cameron] confirmed last week, the UK position on export licenses is unchanged, and following the latest assessment is in line with our legal advice.

“We will keep that position under review and act in accordance with advice. I would also point out to her that actually most like-minded countries have not suspended their existing arms export licences to Israel.”

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn asked Rishi Sunak what he was doing to end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

"This weekend's horrific events show just how dangerous it is that there's going to be an escalation into war across the whole region.

"Does the prime minister recognise that the central kernel to the whole issue across the region is the continued Israeli occupation of Palestine. What will he say about bringing about an end to that occupation and a permanent ceasefire".

Sunak said the UK is "working hard" to bring about a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, but said the "biggest impact on regional instability is the pernicious influence of Iran, and nobody else".

Corbyn has faced repeated criticism over his paid-for 2012 appearance on Iranian state-owned Press TV, in which he linked a massacre of 16 Egyptian policeman to Israel with no evidence.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected calls for a two-state solution, arguing it would pose “an existential danger to Israel.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Iran's attack on Israel “must be wholly condemned by all”, adding that a full-scale conflict in the Middle East is in "no-one's interest".

He said there was "no doubt" that the strike by Tehran has "left the world a more dangerous place", but he also joined the prime minister in calling for Israel to show restraint in a bid to de-escalate the regional crisis.

“We support the defensive action taken by the UK over the weekend, alongside our international allies against the Iranian attacks on Israel, and we welcome the Prime Minister’s call for restraint," he told MPs.

He added: “A full scale conflict in the Middle East is in no-one’s interest. It is a path that can only lead to more bloodshed, more instability, and the unleashing of forces that are beyond the ability of anyone to control.”

He pressed Sunak to use “every ounce of diplomatic leverage that we have to make sure aid to Gaza is unimpeded and drastically scaled up”.

In reference to Israel's preceding attack on Iran’s consulate in Syria, he added: “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.”

Former home secretary Suella Braverman called on the UK to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as an extremist group.

The Tory MP described it as the "world's chief sponsor of terrorism – funding and promoting terrorist plots, radicalisation and hostage taking, both in the Middle East and at home".

"We have proscribed Hamas, we have proscribed Hezbollah, prime minister why don't we put the UK's national security first by now proscribing the IRGC."

Mr Sunak replied: “The Right Honourable Lady knows that we don’t comment on any potential proscription decisions but of course we recognise the threat from Iran and have taken measures to counter it at home and around the world.”

He added: “I’m confident the police, security services and courts all have the tools that they need to sanction, prosecute and mitigate threats from Iran, we strengthened our sanctions regime recently, including sanctioning the IRGC in its entirety.”

The SNP's Mhairi Black didn't hesitate to condemn the actions of the Iranian regime, but argued "so too must we condemn the violent acts of Israel".

"If 100 missiles in retaliation to an isolated attack on an embassy is correctly constituted as disproportionate, then so too must Israel's 192 days bombardment of Gaza," she told MPs.

"We know that the agenda in Tehran is to bring about as much instability as possible. We all have a responsibility to ensure that does not happen. There is not going to be a military solution to the conflict in the Middle East, there must be a political and diplomatic solution."

Black said the biggest cause of conflict in the region currently is the siege of Gaza as she called for a ceasefire and asked the prime minister to outline what he is doing to ensure a UN Security Council mandated ceasefire.

The prime minister said it is "important not to try and draw any equivalence" between Israel responding to the 7 October attacks and trying to boost its security with the actions over the weekend, adding that they "are not remotely the same".

"We will more broadly though, urge Israel to abide by international humanitarian law," he added. "We've been very clear that too many civilians have been killed. Our diplomatic efforts are geared towards alleviating that suffering."

Newly-elected Rochdale MP George Galloway asked the prime minister why he said nothing in his speech about the Israeli bombing of an Iranian consulate building in Syria that preceded the attack on Israel.

Galloway said the airstrike was the "proximate reason" for the "event everyone is here in concert condemning".

He said Sunak was not even asked to condemn the 1 April bombing by the Labour frontbench, adding that Sky News presenter Kay Burley "is the only person so far to demand that of a government minister".

The PM replied: "Whatever may have happened a few weeks ago, it is absolutely no justification for launching more than 300 drones and missiles from one sovereign state towards Israel, it is as simple as that".

He asked why Galloway didn't condemn Iran's strike, or attacks by Hamas in the region, adding: "There is no equivalence between these things whatsoever, and to suggest otherwise is simply wrong."

The prime minister has warned that Iran's nuclear programme "has never been more advanced than it is today" and "threatens international peace and security".

"There is absolutely no justification at a civilian level for the enrichment that we are seeing".

He added: "We are committed to using all diplomatic tools available to ensure that Iran never develops a nuclear weapon, including using the snapback mechanism if necessary."

Sunak was answering a question by senior Tory MP Alicia Kearns, who asked if he would lead a new diplomatic and military consensus to “limit the extent of Iran’s atrocities”.

Sunak has called for an end to the conflict in Gaza, adding that Hamas, which is backed by Iran, "started this war".

"They wanted not just to kill and murder, but to destabilise the whole region," the PM said, adding that the Islamist militant group rejected the latest offer of a ceasefire deal over the weekend.

The PM decried the "appalling" civilian death toll in Gaza that is continuing to grow, adding that the flow of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave is "still not enough".

He praised the aid workers killed in the recent Israeli strike on a convoy of aid charity World Central Kitchen as "heroes" as he said a ceasefire was needed.

The prime minister has told MPs he will shortly be speaking Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express the UK's "solidarity" following Iran's drone and missile attack.

Rishi Sunak said he would also discuss how to prevent "further escalation," adding: "All sides must show restraint".

"We want to see calm heads prevail," he told MPs but said that ensuring Israel's security is "non-negotiable" and a "fundamental condition for peace in the region".

"In the fact of threats like we saw this weekend, Israel has our full support," the PM added. Sunak also said "we must invest more deeply in the two-state solution", adding that the UK has been working closely with the Palestinian Authority with this in mind.

Netanyahu’s government has been unwilling to accept a two-state solution, with the Israeli leader recently saying Israel's security needs would be incompatible with Palestinian statehood.

Iran is "intent on sowing chaos in their own back yard" with its latest attack on Israel, Rishi Sunak has said as he delivers a speech to MPs this afternoon.

Updating the Commons on the UK's response to the crisis, the prime minister said: "With this attack, Iran has once again shown its true colours", accusing it of seeking to "further destabilise the Middle East".

The PM said Saturday night's attack was an act "not of the people, but of a despotic regime", adding that the "links between such regimes are growing", referring to recent drone attacks by Russia on Ukraine.

"And who was the sole voice speaking up for Iran yesterday, seeking to justify their actions? Russia. The threats to stability are growing, not just in the Middle East, but everywhere, and we are meeting those threats time after time, with British forces at the forefront."

The Foreign Office has issued a fresh travel warning for 16 countries, following Iran's drone and missile attack on Israel. Those planning trips to Morocco, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, among others, are being urged to check travel advice before setting off.

This follows warnings that highlighted increased risks in over 18 countries, particularly those around the southern Mediterranean and the Middle East. This was due to heightened tensions following events in Israel and Palestine.

Read the full story from Coventry Live.

US officials believe that at least nine Iranian ballistic missiles hit Israeli air bases on Sunday, evading air defence, although the damage appeared to be minimal.

Israel, the United States and their allies on Sunday shot down 99 per cent of over 100 drones and dozens cruise and ballistic missiles in an unprecedented show of force.

Read the full story from The Telegraph.

International leaders are calling for calm after Iran fired more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel early on Sunday in response to an earlier attack on an Iranian consular building in Damascus. Israel’s sophisticated air defence systems, along with support from the UK and US, kept damage to a minimum, with 99% of missiles and drones intercepted, military officials said.

However, the prospect of Israel launching another strike in return is still looming, fuelling fears of an escalation of violence in the region, with UN Secretary General warning the Middle East is “on the brink” of a “devastating full-scale conflict”.

On Monday UK foreign secretary Lord David Cameron urged Israel to be “smart as well as tough” and to “take the win”, having defended itself so effectively.

Calling on the nation to “think with head as well as heart” and to resist the urge to retaliate any further, he said Iran’s strike was an “almost total failure”.

Cameron also faced questions from Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4 this morning on Britain’s position on Iran’s attacks, and its continued support for Israel despite a reported death toll in Gaza of over 33,000 people.

The journalist attracted criticism with his use of the word “murder”, having told Cameron: “Isn’t the real risk of where we are now, that Western governments appear to back Israel the moment that Israel is under attack, but when Israel attacks and murders tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians, we say the words but we do almost nothing?”

Cameron said he disagreed with that assessment, arguing that the “truly malign actor in the region is Iran”.

Robinson later issued an apology on X, formerly Twitter, saying: “My final question was about the perceived ‘morality’ of the government’s position - in particular the ‘risk’ that their position could ‘appear’ to look like active support for Israel when it is under attack but nothing other than words ‘when Israel attacks or murders tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians’.

“I should have been clearer that I was not expressing my own view let alone that of the BBC when I used the words ‘murders’.”

The government will not publish a legal summary for the UK’s action to help counter Iran’s attack on Israel, Downing Street said.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “There are no current plans to publish legal advice, which is in line with longstanding precedent.”

UK forces were operating within existing permissions and defined geographic area of the Operation Shader mission against the so-called Islamic State, he said.

“In addition, the pilots were given further permission to intercept any airborne attacks originating from Iran or their proxies within the range of our existing mission.

“This was a common sense measure to ensure that missiles that were flying at or past our aircraft en route to do damage, we could take them out. The UK was acting in the collective self-defence of Israel and for regional security.”

It was “absolutely right” the UK and its allies supported Israel by taking out a number of Iranian drones, the spokesman said, while declining to say how many drones were shot down by the RAF.

Downing Street rejected Iran’s assertion that it gave advance warning of its drone and missile attack on Israel, as No 10 called for “calm heads” in the wake of the strike.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “We were not briefed directly by Iran on their attacks.”

He added that “more broadly, we condemn in the strongest possible terms their direct attack against Israel on Saturday night”, also saying that “it would be hard to overstate the fallout for regional stability” had the air strikes been successful.

“What we want to see now is calm heads to prevail.

“The UK will work with our allies, including regional partners, to de-escalate the situation.”

An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said Western countries should blame themselves for not intervening in Israel's war in Gaza, following the Islamic Republic's missile strike against Israel.

"Instead of making accusations against Iran, [Western] countries should blame themselves and answer to public opinion for the measures they have taken against the ... war crimes committed by Israel" in Gaza, Nasser Kanani said on Monday.

Iran fired more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel on Saturday night, of which 99 per cent were intercepted, according to Israeli officials.

It was the first time a nation has launched a long-range attack of this scale against Israel since Saddam Hussein’s Iraq 33 years ago - and it risks causing a major war in the region between two of the Middle East’s most heavily armed countries.

Read the full story from The Independent.

Iranian state media on Sunday broadcast revolutionary songs alongside footage of people celebrating its “revenge” drone and missile strikes on Israel.

State television aired celebratory scenes in several cities, showing crowds – and even Iranian MPs gathered in the parliamentary chamber – chanting “Death to Israel”.

“I’m very, very happy,” said one man on a state broadcast. “I’m proud of being an Iranian... I was counting down for it,” said another.

But ordinary Iranians who spoke to The Telegraph painted a very different picture amid fears of how Israel will respond.

Read the full story from The Telegraph.

More than 300 drones and missiles were fired into Israel overnight on Saturday by Iran, in what it called a response to a strike on its consulate in Syria on 1 April. Almost all of the drones and missiles were shot down before reaching their targets.

Read the full story from Yahoo News on why Iran has attacked Israel.

Noa Moshytz’s home in northern Israel doesn’t have a bomb shelter, so as warnings of an unprecedented Iranian attack mounted late on Saturday night, she took her six-month-old daughter Mayan and drove to her mother’s home in Jerusalem.

They got there just after midnight. Barely an hour later they were racing to the safe room, as sirens wailed and arcs of falling debris from intercepted ballistic missiles lit up the night sky over the city.

“It was crazy, but here we are at the market,” she said the next morning, out shopping in central Mahane Yehuda. “In Israel, we come back to normality very fast.”

Read the full story from The Guardian.

RAF jets could defend Israel again, even if Tel Aviv ignored calls from the UK and US to hold back from retaliation against Iran, Lord David Cameron suggested.

The foreign secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “We are saying very clearly we don’t support a retaliatory strike. We don’t think they should make one.”

But asked whether British forces could again be involved in defending Israel if that retaliation happened, Cameron said: “If they come under attack, that’s a different issue.

“But what we are saying very clearly to the Israelis is ‘we respect your right to take action, you are an independent, sovereign country, you’ve suffered what could have been a calamitous attack, you’ve bravely fought it off, you’ve had a success, Iran has had a failure, the right thing to do, the tough thing to do now is not to escalate further but to switch the focus back on to getting the hostages home’.”

OPINION: On the surface, Iran’s Saturday missile and drone attack on Israel was a response to the Israelis’ airstrike on an Iranian consulate building in Damascus two weeks ago that killed at least seven officials, including commanders of the nation’s Revolutionary Guards, writes Peter Bergen for CNN.

Yet it also was an outgrowth of the enmity between Iran and Israel, including its ally the United States, that has been building for decades, a result of both the Iranian regime’s nature and of policy reversals and blunders by the US ever since the Western- and Israel-allied Shah of Iran was overthrown by Islamists in the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Read the full story from CNN

Booms and air raid sirens sounded across Israel early Sunday after Iran launched hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles in an unprecedented revenge mission that pushed the Middle East closer to a regionwide war. A military spokesman said the launches numbered more than 300 but 99% of them were intercepted.

Read more from AP

A decades-long shadow war burst out into the open overnight as Iranian drones and missiles lit up the night sky in Israel and the occupied West Bank. Tehran’s operation was highly choreographed, apparently designed to minimise casualties while maximising spectacle.

This was a complex mission. Over 300 drones and missiles navigated above Iran’s neighbors, including Jordan and Iraq — both with US military bases — before penetrating the airspace of Iran’s mortal enemy, Israel. Israel’s allies helped shoot down the bulk of these weapons, but couldn’t prevent what was long believed to be the Middle East’s doomsday scenario, the Islamic Republic’s first-ever attack on Israel.

Read the full analysis from CNN.

Rishi Sunak confirmed on Sunday that RAF jets in the region shot down a “number” of Iranian drones that were targeting Israel.

British planes are already operating in the region as part of Operation Shader, UK’s existing counter-Daesh mission in Iraq and Syria. Following Iran’s attack, the Ministry of Defence confirmed more jets were being deployed to the region.

Read the full story from Huff Post on everything we know about why Iran targeted Israel.

Rishi Sunak will address the developments in the Middle East in the Commons, Lord David Cameron confirmed as he said the UK would “absolutely” consider further sanctions on Iran in response to its attack on Israel.

Asked whether the government would impose more sanctions on Tehran, as Labour has called for, the foreign secretary told BBC Breakfast: “Absolutely. We already have 400 sanctions on Iran. We put in place a whole new sanctions regime at the end of last year, which is proving very effective. We’ve sanctioned the IRGC – the Iranian Revolutionary Guard – in its entirety. And we’ll continue to look at what further steps we can do.

“I think there is an opportunity, and I’m sure the prime minister will talk about this in his statement to the House of Commons, to try and work very closely with our partners in the G7. All these things are more effective if countries can act together.

“I think Britain in many ways has been at the sort of sharp end, has been the most keen on sanctions and on pressure and on turning up the heat, recognising… that Iran is the malign actor in the region, but it’s best if we can do these things together.”

Turkish, Jordanian and Iraqi officials have claimed that Iran gave wider notice days before its drone and missile attack on Israel - though US officials said Tehran did not warn Washington and that it was aiming to cause significant damage.

Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles on Saturday in a retaliatory strike after a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Sunday that Iran gave neighbouring countries and the US 72 hours' notice it would launch the strikes.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry said it had spoken to both Washington and Tehran before the attack, adding it had conveyed messages as an intermediary to be sure reactions were proportionate.

"Iran said the reaction would be a response to Israel’s attack on its embassy in Damascus and that it would not go beyond this. We were aware of the possibilities. The developments were not a surprise," said a Turkish diplomatic source.

One senior official in the Biden administration denied Amirabdollahian's statement, saying Washington did have contact with Iran through Swiss intermediaries, but did not get notice 72 hours in advance.

"That is absolutely not true,” the official said. “They did not give a notification, nor did they give any sense of ... 'these will be the targets, so evacuate them.'"

At every level of the British diplomatic machine, the focus after Saturday night's Iranian attack on Israel is now to do whatever possible to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East.

The message from the UK government is twofold.

First, that it stands with Israel and backs its right to self-defence - after all, this terrifying attack without precedent would trigger a heavy response anywhere else around the world.

At the same time, they do not want to see subsequent moves that then create an out-of-control spiral.

Read Sky News' full report on how the UK diplomatic machine plans to respond to the escalation here

Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel early Sunday marked a change in approach for Tehran, which had relied on proxies across the Middle East since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October. All eyes are now on whether Israel chooses to take further military action, while Washington seeks diplomatic measures instead to ease regional tensions.

Iran says the attack was in response to an airstrike widely blamed on Israel that destroyed what Iran says were consular offices in Syria and killed two generals with its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard earlier this month.

Read the Associated Press's look at what could happen next in the conflict between Iran and Israel here.

Global oil prices were trading slightly lower early on Monday, despite a weekend dominated by rising tensions in the Middle East.

International benchmark Brent crude was down by almost 0.4% at $90 a barrel in Asia dealing, while US crude futures were also lower, according to LSEG data.

Market experts said the moves reflected the fact that worries over an Iranian attack on Israel, which culminated in a non-deadly strike using drones and missiles on Saturday, had already been priced in the previous week.

Read the full report on today's oil prices from Sky here

President Biden was in the Situation Room at the White House throughout Saturday evening watching, in real time, Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel unfold.

Surrounded by a small group of his closest advisers, this was, I am told, a moment of significant intensity.

More than a hundred Iranian ballistic missiles were hurtling towards Israel along with drones and cruise missiles.

So many times since 7 October, the Middle East has threatened to spiral. Was this the moment?

Read Sky News' detailed report on how Biden watched Iran's attack unfold - and what he told Netanyahu - here

Europe's aviation regulator has reaffirmed advice to airlines to use caution in Israeli and Iranian airspace though it said no civil overflights had been placed at risk during weekend tensions surrounding Iranian drone and missile strikes on Israel.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said it and the European Commission would "continue to closely monitor the situation to assess any potential safety risks for EU aircraft operators and be ready to act as appropriate".

EASA guidance that is already in place for airlines on Israel and Iran continues to apply, it said in an emailed note.

Read the full report on Reuters here

More coverage of David Cameron's comments from this morning.

The foreign secretary urged Israel to be “smart as well as tough” by not escalating the conflict.

He said Israel should recognise Tehran’s attack as an “almost total failure” and “think with with head as well as heart” in its response.

Cameron echoed Joe Biden’s comment that Israel should view the successful defence against Iranian missiles and drones as a victory.

“The best thing to do in the case of Israel is to recognise this has been a failure for Iran," Cameron told Times Radio

“And so they should, as President Biden has said to them, as it were, take the win and then move on to focus on how to eradicate Hamas in Gaza and how to get those hostages free.”

He described it as a “double defeat” for Tehran, with its attack being not only “an almost total failure, but also the rest of the world can now see what a malign influence they are in the region”.

David Cameron's message urging Israel not to escalate the situation follows the G7 meeting on Sunday where leaders warned an “uncontrollable regional escalation” in the Middle East must be prevented.

In a joint statement, 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.”

It expressed “full solidarity” with Israel and said Tehran had “further stepped toward the destabilisation of the region and risks provoking an uncontrollable regional escalation” which “must be avoided”.

Rishi Sunak will address the developments in the Middle East in the Commons, Lord David Cameron confirmed as he said the UK would “absolutely” consider further sanctions on Iran in response to its attack on Israel.

Asked whether the Government would impose more sanctions on Tehran, as Labour has called for, the Foreign Secretary told BBC Breakfast: “Absolutely. We already have 400 sanctions on Iran. We put in place a whole new sanctions regime at the end of last year, which is proving very effective. We’ve sanctioned the IRGC – the Iranian Revolutionary Guard – in its entirety. And we’ll continue to look at what further steps we can do.

“I think there is an opportunity, and I’m sure the Prime Minister will talk about this in his statement to the House of Commons, to try and work very closely with our partners in the G7. All these things are more effective if countries can act together.

“I think Britain in many ways has been at the sort of sharp end, has been the most keen on sanctions and on pressure and on turning up the heat, recognising… that Iran is the malign actor in the region, but it’s best if we can do these things together.”