The UK's Foreign Secretary, Lord David Cameron, urged Israel to restrain itself and not retaliate after Iran's massive drone and missile attack, urging them to "think with head as well as heart," as the Iranian attack had been a near total failure.
The statements were made in British media outlets on Monday (Apr. 15) after over 300 missiles and drones from Iran attempted to inflict significant damage over the weekend, only to be intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system, as well as US, British, French, and Jordanian asset support, Reuters reported.
Iran's attack was in retaliation to a suspected Israeli airstrike in an Iranian embassy compound in Syria earlier this month, which the country's theocratic regime has repeatedly vowed to avenge despite major powers like the US and even Russia urging them not to do so.
"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 told the BBC.
At the same time, the former prime minister was also urging Israel not to escalate the already high tensions in the Middle East.
"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."
Lord Cameron added that the UK would also work with its allies to look at imposing more sanctions on Iran while urging Israel to return its focus on agreeing a ceasefire with Iran-backed Hamas in its war on Gaza.
The Biden administration made a similar pushback to both Israel and Iran after White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby told NBC that they do not want to see an escalation of tensions.
"We're not looking for a wider war with Iran," he told NBC's Kristen Welker. "I think the coming hours and days will tell us a lot."
