First Minister says UK made ‘absolutely the wrong call’ on Iran involvement

Stormont’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said it is “absolutely the wrong call” for the UK Government to “join in this war” in Iran.

Ms O’Neill also defended her decision not to attend a briefing on the situation alongside Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, who said she was told there are “many, many thousands of people” from Northern Ireland in countries being targeted by Iran.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson said he would not “argue the toss about whether the intervention of the weekend was legal or not”, adding that the UK “should have been involved earlier”.

Iran and Iranian-backed militias have fired missiles at Israel and Arab states, while Israel and the US pounded targets in Iran as the war in the Middle East expanded.

Cyprus said a drone attack targeted a British base, RAF Akrotiri, hours after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced that American forces would be allowed to use British bases to strike Iranian missile sites.

About 300,000 Britons are believed to be in countries targeted by Iran, and 102,000 are registered with the Foreign Office for updates as officials examine all options, including a potential mass evacuation.

Asked about her decision not to attend the briefing at the weekend with her Executive counterpart, Ms O’Neill said she has engaged with the UK and Irish Governments and her first priority remains seeing those travelling or working in the region “extracted from what is potentially a very dangerous and catastrophic situation”.

She told reporters at Stormont: “We all know actually many people that are there and we all know that people are really, really worried, families are really, really anxious.

“Our job is to try to remain engaged and to get those people safely extracted. But I fundamentally disagree with the fact that the war has begun, and I fundamentally disagree with the British Government’s approach.”

She earlier said: “I think this is a reckless war. This is a war that should never have begun.

“Where is this all going to end? Because over the course of the last 48 hours things are really spiralling out of control.

“We see more and more countries are now engaged in this war. This is death, this is destruction. This is not going to bring about a peaceful outcome.

“What we need to see is dialogue, what we need to see is adherence to international law, what we need to see is conversation that actually brings this to an end and allows people to safely get on with their lives.

“With what has happened over the course of the last 48 hours, I’m just fearful for where this is all going to go and I think it is absolutely the wrong call of the British Government to join in this war, to join and all that’s happening in the Middle East, because I again, I just don’t see where’s the cut-off point? Where are they going to stop?”

Ms O’Neill described the Iranian regime as “brutal”, “repressive” and one that “failed to live up to human rights standards”, but “it’s not for international committee to come in, breach international law, throw out the rules of diplomacy, and actually have us in a situation where today lives are being lost hour after hour.”

DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the Iranian regime “has had very strong connections with terrorists who tried to destroy Northern Ireland”, and Iranian people now have the opportunity “to pursue democracy for their own benefit and nobody else’s”.

“I shed no tears for the ayatollah, and I won’t concern myself about whether individuals want to argue the toss about whether the intervention of the weekend was legal or not,” he said.

“This happened. This regime was trying to assassinate the President of the United States, supports terror all around the world, and he’s gone.”

Asked if he supported the UK Government’s involvement he said: “I think it is a matter of fact that we are involved. I think we should have been involved earlier. At least we shouldn’t have denied the use of our RAF bases.”

Also on Monday, Ms Little-Pengelly told BBC’s Good Morning Ulster she had received a “high level security briefing” on the situation as she urged people from Northern Ireland working in or visiting the region to make themselves known on relevant registration schemes.

Asked how many Northern Ireland citizens were in the area, she said: “So it’s very difficult to disaggregate the number, but we do know that it is in the many, many thousands of people.

“I’ve been contacted by family members over the weekend, whether their family members or loved ones are there, either working on holiday, of course a high level of concern and apprehension for them.”

The Iranian Red Crescent Society said the US-Israeli air strike campaign that began at the weekend has killed 555 people in Iran so far.