The defence secretary pledged support for Israel as long as it 'behaves responsibly' ' and 'within international law'. Grant Shapps blamed Iran for all the problems in the region and reiterated Israel's right to defend itself. Report by Gluszczykm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00 What we're saying to Israel is don't do something that actually then just leads to a further escalation
00:08 and we end up in a much more serious, much more long-term conflict.
00:12 That wouldn't be in Israel's interest. It wouldn't be in the world's interest.
00:16 Well, I mean, our goal is to prevent that being the case.
00:18 We don't want to see an enlarged regional war.
00:22 Let's face it, no one wants to see that in the Middle East.
00:25 So that is why we're providing, I hope, wise counsel. I do think Israel have been very considerate about it.
00:31 They haven't hit back the next night or, you know, it's already Thursday.
00:36 They're being thoughtful about the way they react against this.
00:41 The United Kingdom will always stand on the side of freedom and democracy.
00:44 We are defending a democracy, a country with a legitimate right to its own self-defense.
00:51 We are, you know, as I say, appalled by the actions of Iran, a country who already said they want to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.
01:01 And of course, use their proxies to attack British shipping and global shipping in the Red Sea and sometimes in the Straits of Hormuz.
01:09 So Iran is behind all of the problems.
01:12 Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, the three H's, plus other militias aligned to Iran.
01:19 So, you know, as long as it's relaxed within international law, they certainly have the right to their own self-defense.
01:26 We will certainly be by their side.