David Lammy Foreign Secretary, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
With permission, I will make a statement on the Israel-Iran conflict.
Since I last updated the House, the United States has struck three Iranian nuclear sites at Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said that the action was “intentionally limited”. Britain was not involved in the strikes, just as it was not involved in Israel’s operations, but Britain has long had concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme. Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, and the United States has now taken action to alleviate that threat. A nuclear-armed Iran would endanger the immediate region and threaten the global community.
This is a perilous moment in the middle east. Waves of strikes between Israel and Iran have lasted for 10 days, continuing overnight. I know that the whole House will have in their thoughts the many civilians impacted by the fighting. I can confirm today that they include one British national injured in Israel. We have reached out to offer consular support.
Iran has consistently failed to reassure the world that it is not pursuing a nuclear weapon. The House will recall Prime Minister Gordon Brown calling out Iran for perpetrating “serial deception” over years after exposure of the fortified Fordow nuclear site. Today, Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile is 40 times over the limit set by the joint comprehensive plan of action. Iran is enriching at 60%, while typically, a commercial nuclear reactor such as the one at Sizewell operates with uranium enriched at between 3% and 5%. Iran lacks any civilian justification for this level of nuclear activity, and the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors has declared Iran to be in breach of its nuclear non-proliferation obligations.
As we respond to this fast-moving situation, our first priority remains the welfare of British nationals in Iran and Israel and of our staff on the ground. Our crisis teams in London and the region have been working around the clock, and Israel has put restrictions on its airspace since Friday 13 June. The British embassy in Tel Aviv and the British consulate in Jerusalem are open. All our diplomats remain in place supporting British nationals, and we have bolstered the embassy in Tel Aviv with a rapid deployment team from the UK.
We have been working closely with the Israeli authorities to prepare flights to evacuate vulnerable British nationals and their dependants. Yesterday, we launched a booking portal for British nationals. Today, as soon as it was possible to enter Israeli airspace, I can confirm to the House that a Royal Air Force A400 has flown in to Tel Aviv and taken 63 British nationals and their dependants to Cyprus, from where they will be brought home this evening. Further flights will follow in the coming days, security allowing. We will prioritise those with greatest need and contact those allocated a seat directly. We will send updates on future flights to all British nationals registered with the Foreign Office, and I encourage all British nationals still in Israel and the occupied territories to register their presence, so that they receive our updates. These British nationals should follow instructions from the Israeli authorities. International land border crossings to Jordan and Egypt are open, and commercial flights continue from both those countries. Consular teams are on hand to assist British nationals who have crossed the border.
In Iran, airspace remains closed and there has been a near-total internet shutdown. Due to the security situation, we took the precautionary step last Friday of temporarily withdrawing our staff from Iran. The embassy is operating remotely, though our ability to support British nationals still in Iran is extremely limited. The House will know that the Foreign Office has advised against travel to Iran since 2019. Those seeking to cross Iran’s land borders can contact the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for assistance, including with additional paperwork.
British nationals in the wider region should follow our travel advice closely. Following a US security alert for its nationals in Qatar, out of an abundance of caution we now recommend that British nationals in Qatar shelter in place until further notice.
Alongside our consular teams, our diplomats are fully engaged in trying to end this crisis. We can and we must find a negotiated solution. The window has narrowed, but the risks of further escalation are so great, and the costs so considerable for Britain and all in the region, that this is the Government’s priority. We do not yet know precisely how far the US strikes have set back Iran’s nuclear programme, but there remains the need for a durable diplomatic solution. Strikes cannot destroy the knowledge Iran has acquired over several decades, nor any regime ambition to deploy that knowledge to build a nuclear weapon. That is why we have been working so intensively with the new US Administration to reach a new agreement with Iran.
Iran and President Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, held five rounds of negotiations. Britain joined France and Germany in seven rounds of engagements with Iran, too. Even after the Israeli strikes, I travelled to Washington and then Geneva last week, meeting in the White House with Secretary Rubio and Witkoff, and then sitting opposite Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi in several hours of talks, pushing for Iran to accept the diplomatic off-ramp. Directly after the US strikes, we have been at the heart of a collective drive with partners to get back to negotiations. My right hon. and learned Friend the Prime Minister has spoken to President Trump. I have spoken to Marco Rubio and Israeli Foreign Minister Sa’ar. We have both been in touch with European and middle eastern partners. That is why I spoke again to Minister Araghchi yesterday.
My message for Tehran was clear: take the off-ramp, dial this thing down and negotiate with the United States seriously and immediately. The alternative is an even more destructive and far-reaching conflict, which could have unpredictable consequences.
The situation presents serious risks to British interests in the region. Following the moving in of additional assets on a precautionary basis, force protection is at its highest levels. The House should be in no doubt: we are prepared to defend our personnel, our assets, and those of our allies and partners. We are closely monitoring how energy markets are responding to the conflict, and we have been extremely clear with the Iranians: any action to blockade the strait of Hormuz would be a monumental act of economic self-harm, making a diplomatic solution even harder.
We are also maintaining a sharp focus on other conflicts in the region, first and foremost the catastrophic plight of Gazans and the ongoing ordeal of the hostages and their loved ones, all fearing that this war leaves them forgotten. Today I met Eli Sharabi, held in chains by Iranian-backed terrorists, who was released from Hamas captivity only to discover that they had murdered his family. Last week the Israel Defence Forces recovered the bodies of two hostages, as well as that of Shai Levinson, an Israeli with British family killed on 7 October, which Hamas had been cruelly keeping from their loved ones. Half a million Palestinian civilians are facing starvation and more than 400 have reportedly been killed in recent weeks trying to access food, while Gazan hospitals have had to stop services that are vital for childbirth and emergency surgeries. This is appalling, it is unacceptable, and it must finally end. The Israeli Government must lift aid restrictions, and Hamas must release all the hostages. An immediate ceasefire has never been more urgent.
The consequences of the current situation are hard to predict. History can offer us no guide after events that are unprecedented in the region. The Government have sought to react quickly to the twists and turns of recent weeks, while maintaining a focus on where British interests lie—with a lasting end to Iran’s nuclear programme, a de-escalation of tensions, and security for our people across the region. We will continue to persevere with diplomacy.
I commend this statement to the House.
John Whittingdale Conservative, Maldon
The Foreign Affairs Committee met the Iranian ambassador twice last week, and he claimed that Iran’s nuclear programme was legal and purely civil, and he said that they want to negotiate. Can the Foreign Secretary say, on the basis of the numerous meetings with the Iranian Foreign Minister that he has reported, whether he gained any impression of Iran’s willingness either to dismantle its nuclear programme or to negotiate?
David Lammy Foreign Secretary, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
That is the central question. What I have found is inflexibility, as well as a failure to face the seriousness with which the international community are looking at this question and to accept both that we have moved on from the joint comprehensive plan of action, which the Iranians pulled out of back in 2019, and that the focus now is on zero enrichment. Maybe they can have a civil nuclear capability, but it would have to be heavily monitored and would need some sort of international regime in locus with it. They have to face that seriousness now at this point.
