Latest news with #IsraelOffensive
Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Starmer's platitudes show Britain frozen out of big decisions on Iran
Expressions of concern, calls for de-escalation. As the 20-year crisis over Iran's nuclear ambitions reaches its historic climax, Britain has resorted to a policy of platitudes. Sir Keir Starmer wants no part in Israel's offensive against the Iranian regime and its nuclear plants. He will keep Britain as far away as possible from this campaign, and there is no reason to suppose that his position will change even if American forces were to join the assault, as anonymous US officials have been hinting. That is an entirely defensible position. Israel's bombs could yet achieve nothing but impose a short delay in Iran's quest for a nuclear weapon. The uranium enrichment plant at Natanz has been severely damaged, wrecking thousands of centrifuges, but the second such facility, buried in a mountain at Fordow, seems to have escaped attack so far. If Iran's regime manages to survive the onslaught and then repair the damage in a few months before going for a nuclear weapon as rapidly as possible, then Israel will have failed and Britain's decision to stay out will look entirely sensible. But the campaign may not end that way and, in the meantime, Sir Keir's empty bromides doom Britain to diplomatic irrelevance. There is simply no reason for Iran or Israel – and certainly not the United States – to listen to a word that the Prime Minister or his Government say on this subject. Britain wishes to have nothing to do with the enterprise, and therefore it cannot expect to have any influence over what happens next. That leaves Sir Keir with one deeply traditional goal of British diplomacy: to avoid an open breach with America. Hence the Prime Minister's claims that Donald Trump is fully behind 'de-escalation' and has no intention of joining the military campaign. Having dined with Mr Trump at the G7 summit on Monday, Sir Keir declared: 'There is nothing the president said that suggests he's about to get involved in this conflict.' Alas, straight after the summit, Mr Trump said plenty to suggest exactly that. He declared variously that 'we' have 'total control of the skies over Iran' and 'we' know 'exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding' and Ayatollah Khamenei's only way out was 'unconditional surrender'. John Healey, the Defence Secretary, claimed heroically that Mr Trump was 'leading the calls for Iran to do a deal ', which is true if your definition of 'calls' includes issuing blood-curdling threats. If America now joins forces with Israel – and if this crisis ends with the total destruction of Iran's nuclear programme and perhaps the downfall of the regime – then Britain will have been a bystander in a moment of epoch-making importance. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but given that British diplomats and politicians have been deeply engaged in the Iran nuclear issue ever since the Natanz plant was first discovered in 2002, it seems strange, after all that effort, to choose irrelevance at the most decisive hour of the saga.
Arab News
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Israel's offensive on Iran is a threat to everyone says Jordan's King to EU parliament
AMMAN: Israel's expanded offensive on Iran is a threat to everyone, said Jordan's King Abduallah II to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday. 'There is no telling where the boundaries of this battleground will end… the attacks on Iran threaten a dangerous escalation in our region and beyond,' he said. 'If our global community fails to act decisively we become complicit in rewriting what it means to be human. If Israeli bulldozers continue to illegally demolish Palestinian homes, olive trees and infrastructure, so too will they flatten the rails that defy moral grounds,' he added. He reiterated the need for the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state and the importance of granting Palestinians the right to freedom and statehood. 'Global security won't be assured until the global community acts to end the three-year war in Ukraine and the world's longest and most destructive flashpoint, the eight-decade-long Palestinian Israeli conflict,' said AlHussein. The King cited the failure of international law and intervention in Gaza and said what was considered an atrocity 20 months ago has now become routine. 'Weaponizing famine against children, targeting of health workers, journalists and children have all become normalized after the failure of the international community,' he said. Europe's leadership will be vital in choosing the right course of history, said the King and assured Jordans position in its support to the EU. 'This conflict must end and the solution is rooted in international law. The path to peace has been walked before, and it can be walked again if we have the courage to choose it and the will to walk it together,' he concluded.
Free Malaysia Today
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
France's Barrot says Israel is making Gaza a place of death
French foreign affairs minister Jean-Noel Barrot warned Israel that the Gaza offensive had to stop or there would be consequences. (EPA Images pic) PARIS : Israel's easing of humanitarian aid access to Gaza is insufficient, France's foreign minister said today, warning its ally that the new offensive on Gaza had to stop or there would be consequences. Facing mounting pressure over an aid blockade it imposed in March and the risk of famine, Israel eased its blockade yesterday and let limited amounts of food into Gaza. But, it has also stepped up its military campaign in the enclave, where Palestinian health officials said hundreds have been killed in attacks in the past week, including 130 overnight. 'It (the situation) is unsustainable because the Israeli government's blind violence, the blocking of humanitarian aid have turned Gaza into a place for dying, not to say a cemetery,' Jean-Noel Barrot told France Inter radio. The Israeli campaign, triggered after Hamas Islamist militants attacked Israeli communities on Oct 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, has devastated Gaza and pushed nearly all of its two million residents from their homes. The offensive has killed more than 53,000 people, many of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities. Five UN trucks carrying humanitarian aid, including food for babies, were allowed into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom Crossing yesterday. 'This is completely insufficient,' Barrot said. 'All this must stop. We cannot turn a blind eye to the suffering of the Gazans. This aid must be immediate, massive and without any hindrance.' In a rare strongly-worded statement, the leaders of Britain, Canada and France threatened concrete actions against Israel yesterday if it did not stop the renewed military offensive in Gaza and lift aid restrictions, piling further pressure on prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However, they did not outline what actions could be taken and diplomats said the countries will remain prudent given their close strategic partnership with Israel in the region. Relations between France and Israel have soured in recent months as Paris has increasingly taken a tougher stance on events in Gaza and suggested it could recognise a Palestinian state at a meeting in New York on June 18, depending on certain conditions, drawing Netanyahu's ire. Netanyahu on Monday criticised the three leaders. 'By asking Israel to end a defensive war for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed and by demanding a Palestinian state, the leaders in London, Ottowa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on Oct 7 while inviting more such atrocities,' he said on X. When asked what concrete measures the three were referring to, Barrot indicated that at EU level there was a growing call from some countries, including France, to review a long-standing association agreement with Israel to determine whether it is reneging on the clauses related to human rights. 'Once (human rights) violations are established then it is possible that the (accord) can be suspended,' Barrot said, adding that such a decision would have a trade impact on Israel. 'The images coming back to us from Gaza, the situation of civilians, women and children, force us today to move forward,' he said.
