Iran-Israel conflict: Britain withdraws families of embassy staff in Tel Aviv while thousands remain stranded
Britain is temporarily withdrawing the family members of staff who work at the country's embassy and consulate in Israel because of the ongoing conflict with Iran.
'Family members of staff at the British embassy in Tel Aviv and the British consulate in Jerusalem have been temporarily withdrawn as a precautionary measure,' Britain's foreign office said on its travel advice page for Israel.
'The embassy and consulate continues with essential work including services to British nationals,' it added.
Over the weekend the Foreign Office warned Britons not to travel to Israel because of the intensifying conflict, but added there was were no plans to repatriate citizens stuck in Israel following the closure of Tel Aviv's airport and the mass diversion and cancellation of flights
'Iran has launched multiple rounds of missile and drone attacks against Israel. On 13 June, a nationwide state of emergency was declared in Israel. This followed Israeli strikes against nuclear and military facilities in Iran. Israeli airspace remains closed.
'We recognise this is a fast-moving situation that poses significant risks. The situation has the potential to deteriorate further, quickly and without warning. The current situation has disrupted air links out of the country and may disrupt road links.'
Earlier this week the Independent highlighted the case of 15-year-old Bella Baker, stranded in a hotel in the northern Israeli port of Haifa, where on Monday 30 people were injured in a dawn missile attack on the city.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Powys County Times
35 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Keir Starmer chairs Cobra meeting as Donald Trump says he ‘may' strike Iran
Sir Keir Starmer has chaired an emergency Cobra meeting as Donald Trump considers whether to join Israeli strikes against Iran. The high-level meeting follows the Prime Minister's return from the G7 summit in Canada at which he and other world leaders reiterated their 'commitment to peace and stability'. But the US president, who left the summit a day early, told reporters outside the White House on Wednesday that he was considering strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. He said: 'I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do.' Israel and Iran have exchanged fire over the past six days after air strikes which Tel Aviv said were aimed at preventing Tehran developing a nuclear weapon. Iranian officials insist the country's nuclear programme is peaceful, and claim Israel has caused hundreds of civilian casualties. Israeli jets continued to attack Tehran on Tuesday night, but the Iranian response appears to have diminished, with only 10 missiles intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome defence system during the night. Mr Trump said Iran had 'got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate', adding it was 'very late to be talking' but 'we may meet'. On Tuesday night, the president had used his Truth Social platform to describe Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as an 'easy target'. He later posted the words 'Unconditional surrender', prompting Mr Khamenei to warn that any American military involvement would result in 'irreparable damage' to the US. Amid questions over potential American involvement in the conflict, Sir Keir convened his senior ministers for a meeting of the Government's emergency Cobra committee to discuss the deteriorating security situation in the Middle East. The Foreign Office has evacuated family members of embassy staff from Israel, but has not advised British nationals to leave the country. The department said the evacuation was temporary and a 'precautionary measure', with staff remaining at the embassy in Tel Aviv and the consulate in Jerusalem. A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: 'Our embassy in Tel Aviv and consulate in Jerusalem remain fully staffed and continue to provide consular services to those who require assistance.' Downing Street would not say whether British nationals should attempt to leave the country. A Number 10 spokesman would only say that the Government's 'key message' was to 'follow the advice of local authorities on staying close to shelter'. Britons have already been advised against all travel to Israel, and those already in the country have been urged to register their presence with the embassy. The Foreign Office has also said land borders with Jordan and Egypt remain open, and consular teams are in position to provide assistance to British nationals who choose to leave Israel by land. The Number 10 spokesman added: 'This is a fast-moving situation. We are keeping all our advice under constant review and the FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) continues to plan for a variety of developments, as you would expect.' Sir Keir had earlier insisted that Mr Trump was interested in de-escalation in the Middle East, saying 'nothing' he had heard from the president suggested Washington was poised to get involved.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Buried in a mountain and fortified against bombs: Inside Iran's secret Fordow nuclear site out of Israel's reach
Deep beneath the hills of central Iran, Tehran has ramped up its production of enriched uranium. A recent report by the United Nations ' nuclear agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said they were 'seriously concerned' about the 'significantly increased production and accumulation of highly enriched uranium'. In 2018, as a deal brokered by Barack Obama that limited Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief was ended by Donald Trump, Tehran had just 150kg of uranium enriched to 3.6 per cent. That number has now soared to 409kg of uranium enriched to 60 per cent. Iran could convert this uranium into hundreds of kilograms of 90 per cent enriched, weapons-grade uranium in just a matter of weeks, according to analysis by the Washington, DC-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS). That is enough for nine nuclear weapons. Iran operates more than 30 facilities around the country that carry out different steps of the nuclear fuel cycle, many of which have been hit by the latest Israeli strikes, aimed at neutralising Iran's possible nuclear threat. But it is the most concerning of these plants, known as Fordow, that remains intact. It is buried deep underground and heavily fortified. It is also estimated to contain 2,700 centrifuges, vital for uranium enrichment. Below, The Independent looks at what we know about the Fordow site on the outskirts of the city of Qom and why Israel is so concerned by it. When was Fordow set up, and what is it? Fordow is Iran's second nuclear enrichment facility after Natanz, its main facility. From above, all that can be seen are five tunnels disappearing into a group of mountains inside a wide security perimeter. In addition to being an estimated 80 meters under rock and soil, the site is reportedly protected by Iranian and Russian surface-to-air missile systems, though Israel may have already struck these weapons. Though Fordow is smaller than Natanz, it has always been the main object of international concerns regarding Iran's uranium-enrichment programme. When Obama revealed the existence of the site in 2009, flanked by then French president Nicolas Sarkozy and British prime minister Gordon Brown, he described its size and configuration as 'inconsistent with a peaceful program'. Iran had told the IAEA just days before of its desire to build a new fuel enrichment facility, but by that point, the site had been under construction for years. The IAEA says they have imagery showing construction as far back as 2002. Why is it key to the Israel-Iran conflict? It is no coincidence that the first Israeli missiles to hit Iran in this latest exchange came shortly after an IAEA report expressed 'serious concern' about Tehran's uranium-enrichment programme. 'The significantly increased production and accumulation of highly enriched uranium by Iran, the only non-nuclear-weapon state to produce such nuclear material, is of serious concern,' the IAEA said in a 31 May report. Weeks later, Israel's ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, told Fox News that their entire aerial assault on Iran 'has to be completed with the elimination of Fordow'. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes Iran's uranium enrichment programme and the prospect of Tehran acquiring nuclear weapons poses an existential threat to Israel. Several of Iran's other nuclear facilities have already been hit, including two centrifuge production facilities on Wednesday morning. Dozens of Iranian officials and nuclear scientists have also been assassinated. Can Fordow be destroyed? Herein lies Israel's problem. Israel is one of the most heavily armed countries on the planet with some of the most sophisticated weapons. The air superiority it has established over Iran effectively gives the IDF free rein to bomb at will, but it lacks weapons that can penetrate a bunker as deep as Fordow. In fact, experts believe there is only one weapon capable of damaging Fordow: the US-owned 30,000lb GBU-57/B Massive Ordinance Penetrator bomb. Justin Bronk, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and an expert in airpower, says the only means of destroying Fordow would be 'with multiple impacts into the same hole', using this US bomb. What's more, it can only be delivered, says Mr Bronk, by the US B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. Any successful operation would 'rely on the weapons being delivered and functioning perfectly,' he adds. So far, the US has not signalled an intentions to hit the nuclear site, and the Trump administration had been engaging Tehran in nuclear talks before Israel's latest attacks. However, the US president has not ruled a strike. US officials told CBS News that Trump is considering whether to join Israel in its attacks to stop the possibility of Iran enriching uranium to weapons-grade levels. Speaking aboard Air Force One, the US President was clear-eyed about his red line: 'Iran cannot have nuclear weapons. It's very simple.' Iran's leader, Ali Khamenei, was equally forthright in his response. If the US get involved, Washington will face 'serious, irreparable consequences', he said.
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
Keir Starmer chairs Cobra meeting as Donald Trump says he ‘may' strike Iran
But the US president, who left the summit a day early, told reporters outside the White House on Wednesday that he was considering strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. He said: 'I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do.' Israel and Iran have exchanged fire over the past six days after air strikes which Tel Aviv said were aimed at preventing Tehran developing a nuclear weapon. Iranian officials insist the country's nuclear programme is peaceful, and claim Israel has caused hundreds of civilian casualties. Israeli jets continued to attack Tehran on Tuesday night, but the Iranian response appears to have diminished, with only 10 missiles intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome defence system during the night. Mr Trump said Iran had 'got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate', adding it was 'very late to be talking' but 'we may meet'. On Tuesday night, the president had used his Truth Social platform to describe Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as an 'easy target'. He later posted the words 'Unconditional surrender', prompting Mr Khamenei to warn that any American military involvement would result in 'irreparable damage' to the US. Amid questions over potential American involvement in the conflict, Sir Keir convened his senior ministers for a meeting of the Government's emergency Cobra committee to discuss the deteriorating security situation in the Middle East. The Foreign Office has evacuated family members of embassy staff from Israel, but has not advised British nationals to leave the country. Sir Keir Starmer at the G7 summit in Canada (Stefan Rousseau/PA) The department said the evacuation was temporary and a 'precautionary measure', with staff remaining at the embassy in Tel Aviv and the consulate in Jerusalem. A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: 'Our embassy in Tel Aviv and consulate in Jerusalem remain fully staffed and continue to provide consular services to those who require assistance.' Downing Street would not say whether British nationals should attempt to leave the country. A Number 10 spokesman would only say that the Government's 'key message' was to 'follow the advice of local authorities on staying close to shelter'. Britons have already been advised against all travel to Israel, and those already in the country have been urged to register their presence with the embassy. The Foreign Office has also said land borders with Jordan and Egypt remain open, and consular teams are in position to provide assistance to British nationals who choose to leave Israel by land. The Number 10 spokesman added: 'This is a fast-moving situation. We are keeping all our advice under constant review and the FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) continues to plan for a variety of developments, as you would expect.' Sir Keir had earlier insisted that Mr Trump was interested in de-escalation in the Middle East, saying 'nothing' he had heard from the president suggested Washington was poised to get involved. Asked whether the Prime Minister was confident that Mr Trump would not involve US forces in the conflict, a Number 10 spokesman said the UK's position was still that 'we want to de-escalate rather than escalate'.
