After Iran launched drone and missile strikes on Israel, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron urged Israel not to retaliate, saying it should “think with head as well as heart” as the Iranian attack had nearly entirely failed.
His comments came after US President Biden told the Israeli PM the US would not back a counterattack on Iran.
“I think they’re perfectly justified to think they should respond because they have been attacked, but we are urging them as friends to think with head as well as heart, to be smart as well as tough,” Cameron said.
While Israel was justified in wanting to respond to being attacked, Cameron encouraged restraint as a friend and said escalating tensions should be avoided.
He viewed the strikes as a double defeat for Iran as most were intercepted and it revealed itself as the destabilizing influence in the region.
Cameron hoped Israel would not retaliate but that allies would consider new sanctions on Iran and Israel could focus on a Gaza ceasefire with Hamas instead.
“In many ways this has been a double defeat for Iran. The attack was an almost total failure, and they revealed to the world that they are the malign influence in the region prepared to do this. So our hope is that there won’t be a retaliatory response,” he said.
