Rishi Sunak says RAF jets down Iranian attack drones as G7 leaders commence urgent talks

MPs across parties have denounced the action taken by Iran as Rishi Sunak is expected to join US President Joe Biden on a call of western leaders amid fears of further escalation

Rishi Sunak has confirmed that RAF jets shot down “a number” of attack drones after Iran launched an unprecedented assault on Israel.

Speaking to journalists in Downing Street, the prime minister confirmed the action and said if Iran’s attack on Israel had been successful “the fallout for regional stability would be hard to overstate.”

It comes as G7 leaders are to hold urgent talks regarding the escalating situation in the Middle East.

Mr Sunak is expected to join US President Joe Biden on the call on Sunday amid fears of further retaliation in the event of a possible Israeli counter-strike.

Rishi Sunak will call US president Joe Biden amid fears of further escalation in the Middle East (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Tehran has threatened a “heavier” response if Washington co-operates with any further Israeli military action against it.

Israel said Iran launched 170 drones, more than 30 cruise missiles and more than 120 ballistic missiles early on Sunday in an attack that set off air raid sirens across the country.

The assault was launched in response to a strike widely blamed on Israel upon an Iranian consular building in Syria earlier this month, which killed two Iranian generals.

It marks the first time a direct military assault has been launched by Tehran on Israel despite enmity dating back to the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The development threatens to become a major regional escalation after years of shadow wars fought between the two foes as the war in Gaza inflames decades-old tensions in the Middle East.

Britain and the US have offered staunch support for Israel, with the Ministry of Defence saying RAF warplanes in Iraq and Syria had been deployed to intercept “any airborne attacks within range of our existing missions”.

Israeli military spokesman rear admiral Daniel Hagari said 99% of more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles had been shot down outside the country’s borders, with aircraft intercepting more than 10 cruise missiles.

Rescuers said a seven-year-old girl was seriously wounded in southern Israel, apparently in a strike, although they said police were still investigating the circumstances of her injuries.

Mr Sunak condemned “in the strongest terms” Iran’s “reckless attack” as he pledged to “continue to stand up for Israel’s security and that of all our regional partners”.

Cabinet minister Victoria Atkins said Britain was now putting “all of our efforts” into de-escalation in the Middle East, saying no-one wanted to see a “miscalculation or an escalation”.

Mr Sunak would join other G7 leaders on a call on Sunday with updates coming throughout the day, she said.

An anti-missile system operates in Israel during Iran’s attack (REUTERS)

The Health Secretary refused to be drawn on the extent to which RAF planes had been involved in protecting Israel from the Iranian attack, saying she could not provide a running commentary on a “live operation”.

“The prime minister held a Cobra meeting on Friday, he was kept updated throughout yesterday and last night and has had calls already this morning, and there is planned to be a G7 leaders call later today,” Ms Atkins told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips.

The “circle of knowledge” on developments in the conflict had to be “very, very tight”, she said when asked whether the Cabinet was consulted before RAF planes were authorised to protect Israel.

Mr Biden said he would convene the G7 talks “to co-ordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack”.

Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken to Mr Biden, who said he had “reaffirmed America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel”.

Mr Biden said the US had helped Israel to “take down nearly all” of the drones and missiles.

Mr Netanyahu posted on X, formerly Twitter, declaring: “We intercepted. We repelled. Together we will win.”

Tehran has largely avoided directly attacking Israel, despite its targeted killings of nuclear scientists and sabotage campaigns on Iran’s atomic sites, instead targeting Israeli or Jewish-linked sites through proxy forces.

But it vowed retaliation for what it said was an Israeli strike on its Damascus consulate.

Iran Mideast Tensions (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the party supported all measures “designed to restore calm” and prevent a wider regional war.

The opposition has backed the action taken by the government overnight, with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper telling the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “We should be clear that if action hadn’t been taken to prevent those strikes, we would have seen further escalation and further risk of widening conflict.”

The SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has called for “de-escalation” as a “shared objective”, adding: “we stand resolute in condemning this Iranian attack”, while Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf called on the international community to “demand” players in the region abide by UN Security Council resolutions.

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Yousaf said he “condemns” Iran’s attempted attack on Israel as he has “all and every regional escalation”.

“There is not going to be a military solution to the conflict we see in the Middle East, there is only going to be a political and diplomatic solution,” he said.

“We know that violence begets violence and therefore it’s imperative now that the international community demand – not request, but demand – that all parties abide by UN security resolutions, such as a call for an immediate ceasefire (in Gaza).”

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said we must “prevent further escalation and remain focused on finally achieving a lasting peace, so that Israeli and Palestinian children – both – can grow up free of the horrifying cycle of violence that has endured for so long”, while Liberal Democrat defence spokesperson Richard Foord MP called for parliament to have an “opportunity to approve military action”, adding: “the government should uphold that principle by holding a debate and a vote in the House of Commons as soon as possible.”

Sir Ed Davey called for a solution that focused on ‘finally achieving a lasting peace’ (PA Wire)

Conservative backbencher and former Defence Committee chairman Tobias Ellwood said the UK must recognise “we’re now involved in this too”, while Foreign Affairs Committee chair Alicia Kearns said the escalation was a “very dangerous moment,” and that the priority must be a “political solution that ensures long term stability in the region and recognises the shared threat of Iran.”

Bob Blackman, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Israel told the Independent he wants to see the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “proscribed” and the Iranian embassy “closed in London, as well as our embassy closed down in Tehran, and all our diplomats brought home.”

He added: “The reality is that Iran has declared war on Israel... We’ve done what any ally would do – which is to assist our allies in their time of need.”

It is widely expected that Mr Sunak will make a statement in the House of Commons tomorrow about the ongoing situation in the Middle East as MPs return from recess.