UK and allies to sanction Iran as Sunak urges Israel to show restraint

The UK, US and other Western governments are preparing to impose fresh sanctions against Iran within days in response to its attack on Israel, amid a major international effort to avert a world war.

Rishi Sunak said he is discussing fresh “diplomatic measures” with fellow G7 leaders, including possible restrictions on Tehran’s economic and transport links to the UK, as part of international pressure on Iran.

But the Prime Minister also urged Tel Aviv to show restraint in any response to Saturday’s massive and unprecedented missile and drone barrage by the Iranian regime against Israeli targets, most of which was intercepted.

President Biden, Mr Sunak and Lord Cameron have all urged Israel to “take the win” rather than responding with any offensive action.

Mr Sunak is expected to speak directly to Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday as part of UK diplomatic efforts to urge the Israeli premier to step back from the brink of a wider regional war.

The phone call had been scheduled for Monday afternoon, but was delayed – in a sign of the fast-moving situation in the Middle East.

Foreign Secretary Cameron is expected to travel to Israel later this week to also appeal for restraint, mirroring calls from the White House and governments in Europe and the Middle East.

As the world waited to see the next steps from Tel Aviv, Israel Defence Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said following a meeting of Israel’s war cabinet that the country would do “anything necessary to protect the state of Israel at the time and in the way we in Israel choose to do so”.

His statement did not set out any specifics, and is likely to be see in Whitehall as a general pledge by Israel to defend itself rather than a specific threat to mount a fresh offensive against Iranian targets.

Updating the Commons earlier on the weekend’s events, the Prime Minister told MPs that Iran’s onslaught was “reckless and dangerous” and that Tehran had “shown its true colours”.

But he said that he will discuss with Mr Netanyahu how to prevent further escalation, adding: “All sides must show restraint.”

Asked by Liam Fox, the Conservative former defence secretary, whether the UK was considering sanctions against Iran, including restricting the activities of Tehran’s national airline, Iran Air, out of Heathrow and Iranian banks operating from the City, Mr Sunak said work on fresh measures was happening “at pace”.

The Prime Minister added: “I want to reassure him that on all the areas that he mentioned, active work has been undertaken by the Government.

“We discussed yesterday on the G7 call the need and benefit of coordinating further measures, perhaps including some of the things that he talked about, amongst allies in order to have maximum impact both on the regime and on the ultimate designations of any future sanctions.”

Cameron will meet fellow G7 foreign ministers for an urgent meeting in Capri, Italy, on Wednesday. Insiders said the meeting would send a clear message to both sides in the Middle East that restraint would be needed.

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Fresh sanctions are also expected to be announced to coincide with the meeting. The moves are expected to be part of a package to try to persuade Israel to step back from any military action.

Diplomatic sources are concerned that, while 99 per cent of the missile and drone strikes were intercepted – including by RAF Typhoon jets – the Iranian action was the first from its own territory on Israel, rather than through proxies, marking a significant landmark in Middle East relations.

Tehran said the action was in response to an attack on its consulate in Damascus earlier this month, which has been blamed on Israel.

Mr Sunak is under pressure from inside his own party to proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) following the weekend military action – but Mr Sunak insisted that the IRGC is already sanctioned in full.

Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith told the Prime Minister: “All roads lead back to Tehran when it comes to the terrible violence and the wars that take place in the Middle East.

“And every country, not just Israel, other Arab countries fear what Tehran is doing in their countries as well, I think we forget about it.

“We know that they are committing murder at home, they have executed thousands of protesters whilst this war … has been taking place.

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“With all of that known could I please ask (Rishi Sunak), when he sits down with our international colleagues and looks for other things to take place with regards to restricting Iran, please, please could he now consider proscribing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – and to do it in a way that will make sure they can no longer foment extremism here in the United Kingdom as well.”

Mr Sunak failed to rule out taking offensive military action against Iran if the regime posed a threat with nuclear weapons.

Tory MP Jack Lopresti raised concerns about nuclear-armed Iran and asked Mr Sunak to “really commit to the house today that it will support whatever it takes, including not to taking military action off the table to ensure that this nightmare never happens”.

Mr Sunak replied: “There’s no credible civilian justification for the enrichment levels that we’ve seen and the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] has reported happening in Iran.

“We’re committed to using all diplomatic tools to make sure that Iran doesn’t develop a nuclear weapon, including using the snapback mechanism [of United Nations sanctions] if necessary.”