Labour MPs: Britain must stand with Israel against Iran

Telegraph

6 hours ago

For more than four decades, the Iranian regime has explicitly, repeatedly and consistently made clear its intention to destroy the State of Israel – or, as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei prefers to refer to it, 'a cancerous tumour'.
It has opposed – and attempted to destroy – any form of regional peace process involving the Jewish state, and funded and armed a terror network of proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, which together are responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people.
The nature of the Iranian threat has grown as the regime has attempted to acquire a nuclear capability. Last week marked a critical juncture: for the first time in 20 years, the International Atomic Energy Agency declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations. This follows the UN nuclear agency revealing that Tehran's stock of uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent purity – a level that has no civilian purpose and is technically close to the 90 per cent threshold needed for a nuclear warhead – had grown by roughly half in recent months. This is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons.
While Tehran has a long history of lying to inspectors and attempting to cover-up its nefarious nuclear activities, it last week proudly boasted of carrying out ballistic missile tests equipped with warheads. And, in response to the IAEA censure for failing to meet its non-proliferation obligations, Iran announced it had built, and plans to activate, a third nuclear enrichment facility. The Iranian parliament is also now preparing a bill to leave the Non-Proliferation treaty altogether.
Iran's bad faith is there for all to see. Earlier this month, for instance, the Wall Steet Journal reported that China is supplying Tehran with enough ammonium perchlorate to fuel hundreds of ballistic missiles – despite Iran already having the region's largest arsenal.
Israel's action is, of course, being taken against the backdrop of the atrocities committed by Hamas on 7 October 2023 – an attack for which Tehran, as paymaster and weapons-supplier, bears ultimate responsibility – and Iran's unprecedented and unprovoked direct attacks on Israel last year.
For far too long, Iran has strung the West along as it accelerates its nuclear programme. It repeatedly violated the 2015 nuclear deal; refused to negotiate seriously with the Biden administration for four years; and is now throwing up multiple roadblocks to the talks initiated by President Trump.
If we want to end this conflict, it's time for a fresh, tough approach. Israel cannot be left to face this threat alone. As the UK Government has rightly stated, our approach must be guided by a simple and unwavering principle: this dangerous and extremist regime must never be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. This belief is shared by over 80 per cent of the British public.
This isn't simply a matter of the existential threat the ayatollahs pose to the world's sole Jewish state. As the security services have repeatedly warned, Iran poses a clear and present danger to the UK's national security and that of our allies. It is seeking to radicalise young people and plotting terror attacks here on British soil. Just last month, eight people were arrested as part of an investigation into two such plots.
Tehran supplies 'suicide drones' and ballistic missiles to support Putin's war in Ukraine. Iranian missiles already have the reach to attack Nato territory in Europe. And Iran's support for proxy armies such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis has destabilised the whole region while bringing huge suffering to the Palestinians, and the people of Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.
All the while, this medieval theocracy brutally suppresses its own people, beating and killing women who don't dress as it dictates and murdering gay men.
We now urgently need a multifaceted diplomatic, economic and national security plan to guard against the Iranian threat and force the regime to change course.
First, we should work with allies to tighten up sanctions on Iran, including curtailing oil sales to China which are keeping Iran's economy afloat.
Second, we urge ministers to complete the process of banning Tehran's terror army, the IRGC, as swiftly as possible, and put in place a programme to tackle the domestic threat posed by Iran, especially to the Jewish community here in Britain.
Third, the Prime Minister was right to order RAF jets and other military assets to the Gulf. We are proud of the UK's role in helping Israel to defend itself against unprovoked Iranian attacks in 2024. If required, we should do so again.
Fourth, Britain, France and Germany alone have it in our power to implement the 'snapback mechanism' to reimpose UN nuclear sanctions on Tehran. It's time to trigger this mechanism.
Finally, we need a comprehensive diplomatic solution which, unlike the flawed 2015 nuclear deal, eliminates once and for all the threat posed by Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and its support for international terrorism and proxy armies.
At huge cost to itself, Israel has decided to tackle the threat posed by Iran. We support its reasons for doing so.
Now Britain must act to help advance its goals – goals that are vital to our national security, too.