ichef.bbci.co.uk/live-experience/cps/1440/cpsprodpb/21BB/production/_133153680_75eef5b0697eed6c7110ecbb8115b001646d41290_64_1600_9001600x900.jpgichef.bbci.co.uk/live-experience/cps/624/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2024/4/15/e0340d57-8c15-474b-bb5d-831236cded42.jpgWe're hearing again now from UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron, this time on the Today programme.
The interview kicks off with a question about why British lives should be risked and taxpayers' money spent by getting involved in the conflict.
He says the government wants to avoid an escalation of the conflict for the UK's own national interests.
"I think it's right this happened," he says, adding that the UK helped avoid lives being lost.
He says Iran attempted a massive attack on Israel, and had it been successful, there could have been thousands of casualties.
The foreign secretary is next asked whether there should be a parliamentary vote on any future deployment of British troops to the Middle East.
Cameron says there hasn't been a need for a vote as yet because there has been cross party support for all of the action the government has taken so far.
He adds that "parliament can always find a way to have a vote if it wants one, but says "I'll leave that for the prime minister to decide".
Now Cameron is asked about the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate Damascus on 1 April, which Iran says caused it to retaliate.
The foreign secretary says from their perspective, the Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) are "arranging Hamas's attacks on Israel".
Cameron says the response directly from Iran into Israel "is of a different order, and that's why I think it was right for us to take the decisions" that the UK and the US made.
Context: Iran launched around 300 drones, cruise and ballistic missiles from its own territory at Israel's. Almost all of them were stopped by air defences; Israel's own considerable capabilities, bolstered by the US, UK and Jordan.
Cameron is now pressed on why the UK keeps selling arms to Israel and about the warnings about famine.
Cameron avoids the question, instead repeating that Israel has a right to defend itself and it's "frustrating" that aid hasn't been getting into Gaza.
The BBC's Nick Robinson picks at the word "frustrating" and says it doesn't quite do the situation justice, to which Cameron says the UK government has made its position clear: "We were one of the first to drop aid over Gaza - we've been absolutely clear about this and we are now making progress".
Continuing the conversation about British arms sales to Israel, Cameron says that the attack on Saturday night proved Israel sometimes "does need to defend itself and indeed has the means to do so".
He is pushed by Nick Robinson on whether the UK is being firm enough with Israel.
Cameron says he's focused on ensuring a pause in fighting and getting aid into Gaza and ensuring the conflict doesn't escalate.
Cameron's asked what his fears would be if Israel took major retaliatory action against Iran.
He says in any action taken, "there's always a danger of miscalculation".
Cameron says, as an example, he'd argue that the Iranians "badly miscalculated" their strikes on Israel.
He says he spoke to the Iranian foreign minister, and that Iran claims it was the "minimum they could possibly do", and that they "clearly hoped more of their weapons would get through".
Israel has the right to respond, he says, but repeats that the UK thinks this should be avoided.
The BBC's Nick Robinson finishes the interview by asking whether the real risk in this war is Western governments supporting Israel when it's under attack, which then empowers it to go too far in its response.
Cameron says he doesn't think that's right "at all" - and repeats that the true "malign influence" in the region is Iran, which he says backs groups like Hamas.
The UK's foreign secretary adds: "What we have to do with allies is win the argument in the broader global environment about who is really the aggressor here - but also make sure we try and de-escalate the situation so there isn't further loss of life and suffering."
ichef.bbci.co.uk/live-experience/cps/624/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2024/4/15/a7bbb4f8-58b8-4ab7-a503-c4c88c9aa3d9.jpgForeign Secretary David Cameron has been doing the government's media round this morning and spoke to our colleagues at BBC Breakfast and Radio 4's Today programme along the way.
The focus of both interviews was Iran's strikes on Israel over the weekend - and the UK's involvement by helping to defend Israel. Here are the key things he said:
Cameron was unequivocal that Israel has a right to defend itself against attacks from Iran - but said the UK's advice is not to retaliate, calling on Israel to think with "its head, not its heart"
The attack from Iran was a "double defeat", he said, because it failed both in terms of damage to Israel and showed Iran to be the "malign influence in the region"
Cameron praised the involvement of the RAF in shooting down drones bound for Israel on Saturday night. Had the attack succeeded, he said, thousands could have died
When pushed on whether the UK has been stern enough on Israel in terms of protecting Palestinian civilians in Gaza, he said the UK's efforts are focused on ensuring a pause in fighting and getting aid into Gaza
We've also been told to expect a statement from PM Rishi Sunak later today, who'll be speaking in the House of Commons
ichef.bbci.co.uk/live-experience/cps/624/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2024/4/15/1ca24c22-f031-4989-bce5-41624da6e9db.jpgSunak says the fallout in the Middle East, had Iran succeeded with its attack on Israel, would have been "catastrophic".
The PM says the pilots who intercepted the attacks and risked their lives and he commends the RAF for its role in assisting a US-led operation to deter the Iranian attacks.
He says British forces were able to destroy drones and together they were able to intercept almost all of the missiles. Sunak says UK forces were also able to provide surveillance information to allies.
Sunak says he will shortly be speaking with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "to express our solidarity with Israel in the face of this attack and to discuss how we can prevent further escalation".
He adds that all sides "must show restraint".
Rishi Sunak moves on to pay tribute to the three British aid workers who were killed in Gaza, naming them as John Chapman, James Kirby and James Henderson.
"They were heroes," Sunak says, adding that the children of Gaza who they were helping to feed "need a humanitarian pause immediately, leading to a long-term sustainable ceasefire".
Sunak says that is the "fastest way" to get Israeli hostages out of Gaza, and aid into the enclave.
Sunak says Saturday's attack was that of a "despotic regime".
"Tel Aviv was not the only target of drones on Saturday, Putin was also launching them at Kyiv and Kharkiv," he says, reminding Parliament of the war in Ukraine.
Sunak says Russia has been speaking up for Iran to "justify their own actions".
"The threats to stability are growing not just in the Middle East but everywhere and we're meeting those threats time after time, with British forces at the forefront."
"That's why our pilots were in action this weekend, they were policing in the skies above Iran and Syria for a decade, our sailors in the Red Sea against the reckless attacks of the Iran-backed Houthi militia."
ichef.bbci.co.uk/live-experience/cps/624/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2024/4/15/43ec6b80-6c53-4663-82d0-d41d40cfc2f2.jpgLabour leader Sir Keir Starmer is now up and responding for the opposition.
He says his party supports the "defensive action taken by the UK over the weekend", alongside allies, against the Iranian attack on Israel.
"We welcome the prime minister's call for restraint", he says, paying tribute to the UK armed forces.
He says he supports the RAF planes being sent to the region, adding that "their efforts are vital for a safer world".
Starmer says the attack perpetrated by Iran has left the world a more dangerous place.
He says it targeted innocent civilians with a clear intent to destabilise the region.
"It must be wholly condemned by all," Starmer says.
He adds that a full scale conflict in the Middle East is in no-one's interest and that it's a path that can only lead to more bloodshed and instability.
Keir Starmer says escalation is not inevitable, and in repelling the attack, Israel showed "strength and courage". He adds that Israel must now show the same strength and courage to deescalate tensions in the Middle East.
"We must proceed calmly, carefully and with restraint," he says.
In reference to an earlier strike on Iran's consulate in Syria, to which Tehran says it was responding to with its attack on Israel on Saturday, Starmer says it is a "point of principle" that "diplomatic premises should not be targeted and attacked".
But Starmer adds: "Iran's response this weekend was unprecedented, a further step towards the destabilisation of the region."
Starmer says Iran's response was a further step towards the destabilisation of the region and raised risk of escalation.
"This is a regime that sponsors terror across the Middle East and beyond," he adds.
He asks if the prime minister is taking any new steps "with our international partners to pursue sanctions against the regime".
"Whilst there is no justification to Iran's actions, we cannot be naive to the fact that one of the drivers of tension in the region is the ongoing war in Gaza," Starmer says.
"I urge the government to use every ounce of diplomatic leverage we have to make sure the aid to Gaza is drastically scaled up, and for a return to a diplomatic process for a two-state solution."
Starmer says it is right to condemn Iran's action, to work with others to defend the security of allies, and to seek the end of conflict in Gaza.
"But this is a moment for restraint, because escalation will only lead to further destruction.
"And for the sake of all those still caught in the horror and violence, that must be avoided."
ichef.bbci.co.uk/live-experience/cps/624/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2024/4/15/7b8723ae-7574-4def-b20e-6e9f9024cb15.jpgIn reply, Sunak welcomes Starmer's support of the government's stance.
He says G7 leaders spoke yesterday and agreed to coordinate actions to "counter the Iranian regime and its proxies". He adds that an announcement with details will come "at the appropriate time".
Over 400 Iranian individuals have been sanctioned, Sunak says, including the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and there are new powers, such as a new sanctions regime and national security act, to give the UK government further powers to designate sanctions and combat foreign interference.
Sunak says Iran is isolated on the world stage and urges Israel to "take the win at this point and avoid further escalation and bloodshed".
"We are absolutely committed to a two-state solution" he says, and says the government is working hard to bring that about.
Conservative MP Alicia Kearns asks the prime minister whether he will commit to launch "a new consensus on Iran with our allies, and a new effort with combined diplomatic, military and wider expert areas to limit the extent of the atrocities of Iran".
She tells Sunak that we must deal with threats from Iran as one.
Sunak replies that he can give that commitment and it was the subject of discussions yesterday among other G7 leaders.
He says Iran's nuclear programme has "never been more advanced" than it is today.
The UK is committed to using all diplomatic tools available, Sunak adds, to ensure that Iran never develops a nuclear weapon.
