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Live Blog Update| Israel attacks Iran

Israel's war on Iran: Why the UK must stay out

For three decades, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been telling the world that Iran is on the cusp of joining the nuclear weapons club. He has obsessed about bombing it, engaging in a full-scale war, and bringing about regime change.

In 2002, Netanyahu pressed the US and others to invade Iraq, on the falsehood that it had a nuclear weapons programme. He proclaimed how much safer the region would be in evidence to the US Congress. 

“If you take out Saddam, Saddam’s regime, I guarantee you that it will have enormous positive reverberations on the region,” Netanyahu said. “And I think that people sitting right next door in Iran, young people, and many others, will say the time of such regimes, of such despots is gone.” 

As ever, it is best to ignore Netanyahu’s advice. 

The Anglo-US war on Iraq and its subsequent occupation ended Washington’s period as the world’s sole hyper-power. It paved the way for Iran to dominate not just Iraq, but Syria and Lebanon too. 

Read more: Israel's war on Iran: Why the UK must stay out

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks to the media during the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Canada, on 15 June 2025 (Suzanne Plunkett/Getty Images/AFP)