By Harriet Line, Deputy Political Editor

Daily Mail – 17 June 2025 

Military action cannot put an end to Iran's nuclear capabilities, the Foreign Secretary has claimed. As he risked Israel's wrath for seeming to suggest its current campaign was pointless, David Lammy urged both sides to "step back" and "show restraint". Mr Lammy told the Commons: 

“Ours is a hard-headed, realist assessment of how best to tackle this grave threat. Fundamentally, no military action can put an end to Iran's nuclear capabilities.”

But Conservative MP Sir Julian Lewis said military action could 'contain' Iran's nuclear ambitions by

“knocking back their capacity repeatedly” until they “no longer wish to acquire nuclear weapons”.

Mr Lammy warned that escalation of the conflict "poses real risks for the global economy", and said it was “not in Britain's interests, nor the interests of Israel, Iran or the region”. He added:

“There are hundreds of thousands of British nationals living in the region, and with Iran a major oil producer and one-fifth of the total world's oil consumption flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, escalating conflict poses real risks for the global economy. As missiles rain down, Israel has a right to defend itself and its citizens, but our priority now is de-escalation.”