Sir Keir Starmer has said stability in the Middle East is “a priority” following US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, as the world has reacted to the attack.

The prime minister also called on Iran to “return to the negotiating table” to “reach a diplomatic solution to end this crisis”.

Follow latest: Iran considering ‘all options’ after US strikes

In a statement, Sir Keir said: “Iran’s nuclear programme is a grave threat to international security.

“Iran can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, and the US has taken action to alleviate that threat.

“The situation in the Middle East remains volatile and stability in the region is a priority.

“We call on Iran to return to the negotiating table and reach a diplomatic solution to end this crisis.”

The UK was not involved in the strikes but was informed about them in advance by the US, Business Minister Jonathan Reynolds told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips.

Sir Keir and Foreign Secretary David Lammy had been pushing for a diplomatic solution. On Thursday, the prime minister warned of a “real risk of escalation” in the conflict.

The US struck three sites in Iran early on Sunday morning, with Donald Trump boasting the country’s key nuclear sites were “completely and fully obliterated” in an address to the nation from the White House and warned there could be further strikes if Iran retaliates.

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Netanyahu praises Trump

Israel‘s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Mr Trump for the strikes, saying: “Your bold decision to target Iran’s nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history…

“History will record that President Trump acted to deny the world’s most dangerous regime the world’s most dangerous weapons.”

UN secretary-general ‘gravely alarmed’ by US attack

But UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said he was “gravely alarmed by the use of force” by the US against Iran.

“This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge – and a direct threat to international peace and security. There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control – with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world.”

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European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas urged all sides to step back and return to the negotiating table. “Iran must not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon,” she said in a post on X.

“I urge all sides to step back, return to the negotiating table and prevent further escalation,” she said, adding that EU foreign ministers will discuss the situation tomorrow.

How the world reacted to the strikes

Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on X: “We strongly condemn the US bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities, which constitutes a dangerous escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.

“The aggression seriously violates the UN Charter and international law and plunges humanity into a crisis with irreversible consequences.”

Venezuela’s foreign minister Yvan Gil said his country’s government “condemns US military aggression” and “demands an immediate cessation of hostilities”.

In a statement, an Australian government spokesperson said Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programme “has been a threat to international peace and security”.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said it is “crucial that there be a quick de-escalation of the conflict”.

Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani said after the attack that his country’s government hopes “a de-escalation can begin and Iran can sit down at the negotiating table”.

The US attack came after more than a week of strikes by Israel, which have significantly degraded Iran’s air defences and offensive missile capabilities, and damaged its nuclear enrichment facilities.

Israel’s strikes on Iran have killed at least 865 people and wounded 3,396 others, according to the Washington-based group Human Rights Activists. The group said of those killed, 365 were civilians and 215 were security force personnel.

The impending ban on protest group Palestine Action has divided opinion – described as both “outrageous” and “long overdue”.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is expected to take the step after the group broke into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on e-scooters and sprayed two Voyager planes with red paint.

The prime minister described the attack as “outrageous” and a rapid review of security at MoD bases is under way.

It was the latest protest in a five-year campaign from Palestine Action (PA) that has targeted arms manufacturers, financial institutions, political figures and government buildings.

Red spray paint has become its signature.

On its website, PA says it is a “direct action movement” committed to ending “global participation” in what it calls Israel’s “genocidal and apartheid regime”.

It adds that it uses “disruptive tactics” to target “corporate enablers of the Israeli military-industrial complex”.

Banning the group would make membership of it illegal. It would be treated as a terrorist organisation.

Saeed Taji Farouky, a spokesman for PA, told Sky News that potential proscription was “unfair”, adding that it was “ludicrous” that a “civil society direct action group” could end up on the same list as ISIS.

He added: “It’s not logical, it’s not even consistent with the British legal definition of terrorism, it’s a reaction that’s been taken overnight, with almost no discussion or debate.

“The whole thing is incredibly worrying, mostly for what it means about British law in general, about undermining the very basis of British democracy and the rule of law.”

There are “no circumstances” under which the two people who breached Brize Norton would be handed over to the police, he said.

Singer-songwriter Paloma Faith, who spoke at a pro-Palestine rally in Whitehall in central London on Saturday, told Sky News she was “devastated” by the move.

“I have met some of the people who have friends in that group. They are young students and they are basically trying to do something because they feel that our government is failing them.”

She added that “everyone” wants to end what she described as a “massacre” in Gaza.

Israel says its military campaign in Gaza is a way of defending itself against Hamas, which killed more than a thousand people in its 7 October attacks and took about 240 people hostage. Hamas-run health authorities claim Israeli attacks have since killed almost 56,000 people in Gaza.

Faith continued: “When you scribble on something, or paint on it, it’s a non-violent protest and it shouldn’t be made at the same level as a violent protest – it is unjust.”

Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, backed Palestine Action’s use of non-violent protest.

He told Sky News: “There has been a place for that in all political movements in history.

“In the struggle for the rights of black people in the US, in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, in the struggle for women to have the vote, people took forms of non-violent direct action.

“Imagine if we had the current [situation] back in those days – we would have been proscribing the suffragettes, treating them as terrorists.”

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Others have welcomed the move. Lord Walney, who served as the government’s independent adviser on political violence, told Sky News the decision was “long overdue”.

“Palestine Action have acted as the enemy within which is why it’s right, now, to crack down on them,” he said.

“They have terrorised working people for a number of years and there’s a number of serious violent charges that are going through the court system at the moment.”

The UK government is expected to announce its decision early next week.

A yellow warning is in place for “potentially intense” thunderstorms in large parts of the country – and some places could have up to 40mm of rainfall in less than two hours.

The Met Office said there could also be “frequent lightning, large hail and strong winds”.

The alert lasts until 3am on Sunday and covers parts of northern England, northeast Wales and the Scottish Borders.

The Met Office urged those in the warning areas to consider if their location is at risk of flash flooding and to prepare accordingly.

Forecasters have said the heatwave in parts of England and Wales provides “perfect conditions” for thunderstorms.

On Saturday, the UK had the hottest day of 2025 so far, with a temperature of 33.2C (91.7F) recorded in Charlwood, Surrey.

Scores of rail passengers were evacuated after some services were halted following a fault on a train.

And thousands of people watched the sunrise over Stonehenge in Wiltshire to celebrate the summer solstice, marking the year’s longest day.

Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said “hot and humid air is being dragged up” from parts of continental Europe.

“But we also have low pressure out in the Atlantic, and that is driving weather fronts across the UK, providing instability in the air and the perfect conditions to start sparking off some thunderstorms as that hot and humid air rises rapidly,” he added.

The east of England, including London and the South East, could experience a “tropical night”, although most of the country will see “a lot cooler” and “a lot fresher” conditions, Met Office forecaster Dan Stroud said.

“In one or two spots, that could potentially be a tropical night, which is where the overnight minimums actually fail to drop below 20 degrees (centigrade),” he added.

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Sunday will see a day of “sunny spells and showers” with highs of around 27C and 28C, Mr Stroud said.

An amber heat-health alert for all regions in England remains in place over the weekend.

The alert, issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), has warned that significant impacts are likely during the alert period across health and social care services, including a rise in demand.