UK ministers urged for restraint after Israel launched strikes on Tehran early on Friday, targeting the country’s nuclear programme, in a significant escalation of hostilities
Iran: Government minister Sarah Jones responds to Israeli strikes
A Labour minister has said the Government is urging for “constraint, restraint and de-escalation” after Israeli strikes targeted Iran’s nuclear programme.
Industry minister Sarah Jones was grilled in a TV interview this morning as she urged for “calm” at this “dangerous moment” – echoing the Prime Minister’s call for “all parties to step back”.
In a significant escalation of hostilities, Israel launched strikes on Tehran early on Friday, targeting the country’s nuclear programme and rekindling fears of a full-scale conflict. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned Israel should expect “severe punishment” in response.
Ms Jones said the UK was not involved in the strikes but would not discuss “information about what we did or didn’t know”. She also refused to answer a question on whether the strikes were “wrong”, only saying that as she is not a Foreign Office minister she would not comment on “things that perhaps the Foreign Secretary may or may not say in due course”.
READ MORE: Israel strikes LIVE: Leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard killed as explosions rock nation
Sarah Jones on Sky News
Asked about the strikes, Ms Jones told Sky News: “This is a dangerous moment, as the Foreign Secretary has said this morning, and we will be doing all we can, as you would expect to work with our allies to urge for constraint, restraint and for de-escalation in the region.”
Asked what the UK knew, she said: “We weren’t involved in the strikes. Obviously, I can’t talk about information about what we did or didn’t know. That wouldn’t be appropriate.”
The Labour MP for Croydon West said she was “sure” Foreign Secretary David Lammy would say more in “due course” when asked about the US being due to hold the next negotiations with Iran on a nuclear deal. On Iran’s nuclear programme, she added: “I don’t think anybody questions how destabilising Iran is being.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “The reports of these strikes are concerning and we urge all parties to step back and reduce tensions urgently. Escalation serves no one in the region. Stability in the Middle East must be the priority and we are engaging partners to de-escalate. Now is the time for restraint, calm and a return to diplomacy.”
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “Stability in the Middle East is vital for global security. I’m concerned to see reports of strikes overnight. Further escalation is a serious threat to peace & stability in the region and in no one’s interest. This is a dangerous moment & I urge all parties to show restraint.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday morning that the “operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat”.
In a clip posted on social media, Mr Netanyahu said that 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 Hossein Salami was killed as well as chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, General Mohammad Bagheri.
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