Middle East Lammy Warns Iran to Choose Diplomacy Over Escalation Amid Rising Nuclear Tensions

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Lammy Warns Iran to Choose Diplomacy Over Escalation Amid Rising Nuclear Tensions

 

Foreign Secretary David Lammy has issued a stark warning to Iran, urging its leaders to abandon confrontation and return to diplomacy following U.S. military strikes aimed at disabling Iran’s nuclear programme. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Lammy said Iran still has "an off-ramp" to avoid further escalation, and stressed that the time had come for Tehran to "get serious" about talks.

 

Over the weekend, the United States launched coordinated airstrikes on three major Iranian nuclear facilities—Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow—prompting outrage in Tehran. Iran has promised "everlasting consequences" in response, raising fears of a wider regional conflict.

 

Lammy said he had personally spoken with Iran’s foreign minister to deliver a direct message to Tehran. "I told him that it would be a catastrophic mistake for them to retaliate by firing at U.S. bases, or by blockading the key shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz," he explained. "They have to get serious about the off-ramp that is being made available to them."

 

"There is still an off-ramp," Lammy reiterated. "And I was discussing that with the Iranian foreign minister again on the phone yesterday. We, alongside all of our partners in the G7, across Europe and across the Arab world and the Levant, are urging the Iranians to get serious both with the E3—us, Germany and France—but also with the United States."

 

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has sought to reassure the public that the UK had no involvement in the U.S. military action. "We're doing everything we can to stabilise the situation," he said on Sunday, warning of the potential for rapid escalation in the region.

 

When questioned about the legality of the American strikes, Lammy stopped short of criticism. "I don't say it's not legitimate," he said, adding that there was "no moral equivalence" between the US response to Iran and Russia's unlawful invasion of Ukraine.

 

However, Lammy admitted that existing diplomatic approaches had failed to prevent Iran from continuing to enrich uranium at an alarming rate. "Clearly it was not working," he said, referencing the International Atomic Energy Agency's confirmation that Iran had reached 60% enrichment—a level far beyond civilian use.

 

"They're still obfuscating and engaged in deception," Lammy added. He warned that a nuclear-armed Iran could trigger a dangerous chain reaction in the region. "If Iran obtained nuclear weapons, there would likely be nuclear proliferation across the Middle East. The world would be seriously more dangerous, and that's why it must be stopped."

 

He acknowledged that a civil nuclear programme was acceptable, provided it was subject to international oversight. "Yes, they can have a civil nuclear capability that's properly monitored, that involves outsiders, but they cannot continue to enrich to 60%... Why do they need 60% enrichment if not for a nuclear weapon?"

 

Despite the military action, Lammy stressed that diplomacy remained the only sustainable solution. "Ultimately, the only solution to dealing with the Iranian nuclear programme is through diplomacy, because the expertise still exists in the country, it's likely that some of the material still exists in the country."

 

James Cartlidge, the Conservative shadow defence secretary, expressed support for the U.S. strikes, calling them necessary to maintain international security. "The key message is to show support for Israel and the United States," he told BBC Breakfast. "We feel above all else that we can't have a situation where Iran has nuclear weapons."

 

While Cartlidge declined to speculate on direct UK military involvement, he welcomed Defence Secretary John Healey’s decision to pre-position British military assets in the Middle East, saying it allows the UK to "respond if needed."

 

Related Topics:

Starmer Supports Trump’s Strike on Iran, Calling Nuclear Threat “Grave to Global Security”

G7 Backs Israel, Condemns Iran Amid Rising Tensions in the Middle East

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from BBC  2025-06-24

 

 

[shackleton]

Lammy and his boss Kier Starmer have no influence on any say on world affairs 

Great Britain is no more the Great bit disappeared in the 70s 😱

The UK has bigger problems at home appeasing the illegal immigrants giving out handouts free hotel accommodation and so on 

It's about time the useless Labour government thought more about the British people coming first instead of outsiders 

 

[Photoguy21]

Lammy is an idiot. His knowledge of the world is none existent. Anything he says should be ignored. Like his boss he is totally unsuited to the position he holds in the goverrnment.

[angryguy]

Thats like a mosquito warning you not to slap it while its feasting

[MalcolmB]

13 minutes ago, shackleton said:

The UK has bigger problems at home appeasing the illegal immigrants

Who quite often look a bit like Lammy.

[sammieuk1]

A strongly worded letter to Kier should to the trick Lamb chops 🤔

 

 

[JonnyF]

As if anyone listens to the clown Lammy 😃😃.

 

More like Shammy. 

 

[David in the north]

41 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

Lammy is an idiot. His knowledge of the world is none existent. Anything he says should be ignored. Like his boss he is totally unsuited to the position he holds in the goverrnment.

Exactly. His only "qualification" is that he ticks the right boxes
No talent, ability & a total lack of brain

[JonnyF]

3 minutes ago, David in the north said:

Exactly. His only "qualification" is that he ticks the right boxes
No talent, ability & a total lack of brain

 

He thinks that because he starts every sentence with "As a black man" that people take him seriously.

 

They don't.

 

[MarkT63]

 

The guy is a total clown 🤡

[The Cyclist]

37 minutes ago, David in the north said:

& a total lack of brain

 

😀😀😀

 

Don't forget, his mum raised him on Universal Credit

 

 

Bless, shouldn't poke fun at the Tottenham Turnip.

[Hatari fan]

Better Lammy the mastermind  keeps his mouth shut nobody's listening to him anyway. 

 

[roo860]

1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

 

He thinks that because he starts every sentence with "As a black man" that people take him seriously.

 

They don't.

 

Thick as a Gurkas foreskin!

[roo860]

1 hour ago, The Cyclist said:

 

😀😀😀

 

Don't forget, his mum raised him on Universal Credit

 

 

Bless, shouldn't poke fun at the Tottenham Turnip.

She must have got extra money for food, size of the fat <deleted>!

[The Cyclist]

16 minutes ago, roo860 said:

She must have got extra money for food, size of the fat <deleted>!

 

Too thick to know that Universal Credit hadn't been invented when he was a mini-turnip.

[roo860]

Femi Oluwole, he's another tosser, looks like Lammy's love child.

[0ffshore360]

39 minutes ago, roo860 said:

Thick as a Gurkas foreskin!

That's a curious bit of inside information !  Almost antisemite to some !