PM takes aim at 'malign' Iran - and vows never to stop selling arms to Israel

Sir Keir Starmer used the first anniversary of Hamas’s barbaric terrorist attack on Israel to urge the international community to turn its focus on the “malign” regime in Iran.

- DAVID MADDOX

In a carefully crafted statement in the Commons to commemorate the 7 October atrocity, which sparked war in the Middle East, Sir Keir’s message to MPs was that the ayatollahs who rule Iran must be held to account and forced to take responsibility for the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the region.

He said his government “will never stop selling weapons to Israel”, despite calls from French president Emmanuel Macron for a full arms embargo.

His words came as Sir Keir resisted calls to distance himself from Israel after its prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened up a new front in the north against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon. And he appeared to echo Mr Netanyahu’s claim of a ring of fire surrounding Israel with Iran and its terrorist-backed groups also including the Houthis in Yemen.

The statement came on a solemn occasion as Israel, the UK and much of the rest of the world remembered the horrific attack by Hamas 12 months ago. Protesters calling for the Israeli government to do more to get the remaining 101 hostages returned sounded a haunting siren at 6.29am, the time at which the terrorist attacks began.

The day itself saw 1,205 people killed and 251 hostages taken, according to Israel’s official figures. It ushered in a war in the Middle East which Israel is now fighting on fronts in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon, as well as sustaining attacks from Iran and the Houthis in Yemen.

Sir Keir’s statement and update on the crisis to the House followed a series of memorial events, including a visit by foreign secretary David Lammy to a synagogue in his north London constituency.

In a statement to a hushed chamber, Sir Keir argued that the recent direct attack by Iran on Israel with more than 200 ballistic missiles underlined its “malign role” in the Middle East.