ISRAEL’S ambassador to the UK has said \u201cEurope owes a huge thank you\u201d for its\u00a0strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure, and claimed the attacks\u00a0are “self defence”.<\/p>\n
Tzipi Hotovely insisted the operation was an act of self-defence and argued Iran had rejected diplomatic efforts to ease tensions.<\/p>\n
However, planned talks on\u00a0Iran\u2019s\u00a0nuclear programme – which were described by Iran as “optimistic” –\u00a0were called off after the strikes.<\/p>\n
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that if the Israeli strikes on\u00a0Iran\u00a0stop, then \u201cour responses will also stop\u201d.<\/p>\n
READ MORE:\u00a0<\/strong>Rachel Reeves suggests UK will ‘potentially’ support Israel amid Iran conflict<\/a><\/p>\n Hotovely\u00a0told the BBC\u2019s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: \u201cEurope owes a huge thank you to Israel for doing that, and the Gulf countries as well.<\/p>\n \u201cOur region would have been a place that is not safe for anyone if Iran had accomplished their plan.\u201d<\/p>\n Referencing past airstrikes on suspected nuclear sites in Iraq in 1981 and Syria in 2007, Hotovely added: \u201cThe international community owes a huge thank you to Israel and it\u2019s the same case here.\u201d<\/p>\n Her comments come amid international calls for de-escalation between Israel and Iran.<\/p>\n Previously,\u00a0Rachel Reeves indicated that the UK could \u201cpotentially\u201d support Israel<\/a> amid the conflict and Keir Starmer<\/a> confirmed the UK would send jets to the Middle East<\/a>.<\/p>\n Israel has unleashed air strikes across\u00a0Iran\u00a0for a third day and threatened even greater force as some Iranian missiles evaded Israeli air defences to strike buildings in the heart of the country.<\/p>\n The region braced for a protracted conflict after Israel\u2019s surprise bombardment of\u00a0Iran\u2019s\u00a0nuclear and military sites on Friday killed several top generals and nuclear scientists, and neither side showed any sign of backing down.<\/p>\n Iran\u00a0said Israel struck two oil refineries, raising the prospect of a broader assault on\u00a0Iran\u2019s\u00a0heavily sanctioned energy industry that could affect global markets.<\/p>\n The Israeli military, in a social media post, warned Iranians to evacuate arms factories, signalling what could be a further widening of the campaign.<\/p>\n