Starmer and European allies urge restraint from Israel and Iran after strikes

In a Friday phone call with the European leaders, Sir Keir and his counterparts “discussed the long-held grave concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme, and called on all sides to refrain from further escalation that could further destabilise the region”, according to No 10.

A Downing Street spokesperson said they “reaffirmed Israel’s right to self-defence, and agreed that a diplomatic resolution, rather than military action, was the way forward”.

Elsewhere, Sir Keir told Bloomberg he was planning to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday.

The Israeli strikes in the early hours of Friday targeted nuclear facilities, missiles factories, and killed Hossein Salami, the leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The UK is prepared to take “every diplomatic step” to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons after Israeli strikes, Downing Street said.

This could include reinstating sanctions lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran by triggering the “snap back” mechanism.

The UK’s priority is to prevent further escalation after the strikes and “press for a diplomatic solution”, and officials have urged Iran to keep nuclear talks going with US President Donald Trump, according to Downing Street.

No 10 said the UK did not participate in Israeli strikes overnight and would not say whether Israel had requested help.

Iran’s nuclear programme is “more advanced than ever, and it is a clear threat to international peace and security”, the spokesman said.

“We’ve urged Iran to continue engaging with President Trump’s offer of a negotiated solution and we continue to liaise closely with our partners on this.”

The attack appeared to be the most significant Iran has faced since its war with Iraq in the 1980s.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said stability in the Middle East is “vital” for global security.

“Further escalation is a serious threat to peace & stability in the region and in no-one’s interest,” he said in a post on X.

“This is a dangerous moment & I urge all parties to show restraint.”

It is understood that Mr Lammy had been due to travel to the US on Friday, but is now remaining in London.

Mr Netanyahu said on Friday that the “operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat”.

In a clip posted on social media, he said Israel “struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme” and “the heart of Iran’s nuclear weaponisation programme”.

Iranian state television reported that the leader of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Mr Salami, was killed, as well as chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, General Mohammad Bagheri.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio said Israel acted unilaterally.

In a post on X, Mr Rubio said “we are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region”.

Mr Trump said he “gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal” and warned that Israel has “a lot of” US military equipment, and they “know how to use it”.

“Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left … JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” he posted on Truth Social.

Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel, in a post on X, said: “We must use our influence and diplomacy to work closely with all of our allies in the region and beyond to resolve conflicts, and deliver peace and stability in the Middle East.”

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said “warm words” would not stop Iran, and that she did not see Israel’s action as an escalation.

“If Israel sees Iran getting nuclear weapons, I don’t think it should sit back and put its feet up and say ‘Well, we’re de-escalating’.

“Because the person, the country, that will escalate is Iran, and that would be absolutely disastrous for the entire world,” she told journalists in Scotland.