The RAF has airlifted 63 British nationals from Israel as Tel Aviv and Tehran continue to exchange fire and it was revealed one British citizen was injured in a missile strike.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Parliament that an RAF A400 had evacuated the first group of British nationals from Israel to Cyprus on Monday and more flights would follow in the coming days.
He also confirmed that one British national had been injured during Iranian missile attacks on Israel and had been offered consular support.
Downing Street said “around 1,000” people had requested a seat on an evacuation flight – a quarter of the 4,000 who had registered their presence in Israel or Palestine with the Foreign Office.
Amid the continuing conflict, the Foreign Office has also advised British nationals in Qatar to “shelter in place” following a US security alert as fears of a full-blown regional conflict grow.
Air traffic in Qatar has been temporarily suspended to “ensure the safety of citizens, residents and visitors,” Qatar’s foreign ministry has confirmed.
In his statement to the Commons, Mr Lammy repeated his plea to Iran to return to the negotiating table following America’s strikes on its nuclear programme.
He said: “My message for Tehran was clear, take the off ramp, dial this thing down, and negotiate with the United States seriously and immediately.
“The alternative is an even more destructive and far-reaching conflict, which could have unpredictable consequences.”
He had previously urged Tehran to engage in negotiations, saying US President Donald Trump’s apparent decision last week to delay US military action offered a two-week window for a diplomatic solution.
On Monday, he said: “We can and we must find a negotiated solution. The window has narrowed, but the risks of further escalation are so great and the costs so considerable for Britain and all in the region, that this is the Government’s priority.”
Mr Lammy’s statement came after an air raid by American B-2 stealth bombers and a salvo of submarine-launched missiles hit Iran’s nuclear facilities on Saturday night.
The Foreign Secretary told MPs it was not yet clear how far the attack had set back Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but said the need for a diplomatic solution remained.
He added: “Strikes cannot destroy the knowledge Iran has acquired over several decades, nor any regime ambition to deploy that knowledge to build a nuclear weapon.”
Earlier, Downing Street had said that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb was a “good thing” for the UK, but declined to comment on whether the US strikes complied with international law.
Meanwhile, Israeli jets hit targets in Tehran on Monday including the security headquarters of the Revolutionary Guard Corps and Evin Prison, the regime’s main site for detaining political prisoners and human rights activists.
In turn, Iran carried out its own strikes against cities in Israel, and sparked fears of a wider regional conflict as it accused the US of crossing “a very big red line”.
Meanwhile, oil prices reached their highest level for nearly six months over fears a regional conflict could restrict supply, especially if Iran decided to blockade the Strait of Hormuz.
The jump in prices prompted Mr Trump to post on his Truth Social platform: “EVERYONE, KEEP OIL PRICES DOWN. I’M WATCHING! YOU’RE PLAYING RIGHT INTO THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY. DON’T DO IT!”
Mr Lammy told MPs the Government was “closely monitoring” the energy markets and urged Iran to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, saying a blockade would be “a monumental act of economic self-harm” and make reaching a diplomatic solution even harder.
