UK tourists have been issued a Foreign Office travel alert amid the rising tension in Israel and Iran. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has updated its travel advice for a string of countries amid the escalating crisis this week.
The fresh warning from the Foreign Office impacts Lebanon, Libya, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Algeria, Iraq, Egypt, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Bahrain, Israel, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, Syria, Qatar, Morocco and Oman.
Hundreds of drones and missiles were launched at Israel on Saturday night in retaliation for an attack on its embassy compound in Damascus. Rishi Sunak has called for “calm heads to prevail” as Britain has urged de-escalation following Israel’s retaliatory attack today.
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Asked about Friday’s attack, the UK’s former Lebanese ambassador Tom Fletcher told the BBC: “Clearly the picture is still quite hazy, everyone will have an interest in it remaining hazy for some time while they work out how they want to describe what happened overnight, because in a way the reaction to it is as important as the event itself.
“Across the region people I’m hearing from are braced, many are waking up with real fear. Isfahan is a serious nuclear site, and this is a sign that Israel does intend to continue this game of high-stakes poker with Iran.”
“We don’t know how much of an escalation this is for now,” he added. “Clearly Iran is starting to signal that it’s not necessarily a major escalation, they’re playing it down. And of course Israel could have chosen to do something more dramatic. “
Diplomats across the region “will all be looking to find ways to play it down now” and “messages into Tel Aviv and Tehran will all be clear and consistent that: ‘this is enough’”, said Mr Fletcher, a former foreign affairs adviser to prime ministers Gordon Brown and David Cameron.
