Theresa May condemns Iran attacks on Israel and urges Russia to step in
2 min read
Theresa May has condemned the Iranian attacks on Israel and urged Russia to step in and help put an end to the violence.
Tehran fired rockets on the occupied Golan Heights overnight - prompting a fierce Israeli counter-attack on Iranian military bases in Syria.
The escalation in fighting coincided with Donald Trump’s dramatic withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, a move long sought after by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Downing Street waded into the conflict, saying Israel had "every right to defend itself".
"We condemn Iran’s attack on Israel,” a Number 10 spokesperson said at a briefing today. "We call on Iran to refrain from any further attacks and for calm on all sides. We call on Russia to use its influence in Syria to prevent further Iranian attacks."
Russia and Iran are fighting on the same side in the seven-year long Syrian civil war, in defence of the ruling Assad regime which rebel groups have tried to topple.
Israel said it had targeted almost all Iranian military infrastructure in Syria - including weapons depots, logistics sites and intelligence centres.
It said about 20 rockets had been launched at its forward posts in the Syrian Golan Heights - an area it annexed without international recognition after the 1967 Middle East war.
The blasts came a day after an alleged Israeli airstrike on a weapons depot in Kiswah, Syria, which killed 15 pro-government fighters, including eight Iranian Revolutionary Guards, according to observers.
Mr Trump announced on Tuesday that the US was pulling out of the Iran nuclear accord, in the face of strong opposition from European nations.
Despite a frantic diplomatic push by the UK, Paris and Berlin to convince him not to ditch the Obama-era deal, Mr Trump dubbed it "decaying and rotten" and said he would restart tough economic sanctions on Tehran.
Iranian President Hassan Rohauni swiftly condemned the decision, and said he had "ordered the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran to be ready to start the enrichment of uranium at industrial levels".
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has declared that Britain “has no intention of walking away" from the 2015 pact.
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