David Cameron says Iran strikes were “double defeat” for Tehran
British Foreign Minister David Cameron urged Israel to “be smart as well as tough” and to not retaliate after Iran’s attack on April 15th, alleging that the strike had been a “near total failure,” reported Asharq Al-Awsat and agencies.
The more than 300 missiles and drones launched by Iran caused modest damage in Israel, as most were shot down by its Iron Dome defense system. Additionally, the country received help from the US, Britain, France and Jordan.
The attack came as retaliation following a suspected Israeli airstrike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus on April 1st. Since then, Israel had been on “full alert.”
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Prior to Iran’s attack, ambassador to Syria Hossein Akbari warned that the country’s response would be “at the same magnitude and harshness” as that of Israel’s.
On April 11th, Cameron took to X, warning Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian “that Iran must not draw the Middle East into a wider conflict,” adding that he was “deeply concerned about the potential for miscalculation leading to further violence.”
Following Iran’s retaliation, Cameron said he thought Israel was “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,” he added.
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He said he didn’t want Israel to overall escalate tensions in the Middle East, Reuters reported.
Cameron said Britain would work with allies to impose more sanctions on Iran, instead urging Israel to focus on a ceasefire agreement with Iran-backed Hamas.
“In many ways this has been a double defeat for Iran,” he told Sky News. “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.”
Asharq Al-Awsat and agencies
