Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian said conflict anywhere in the world was in no one’s interest but that states had the right to “punitive responses against an aggressor” in response to UK’s Starmer, the official news agency IRNA reports.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had held a call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, asking him to refrain from attacking Israel and saying that war was not in anyone’s interest.

“The support of some Western countries for the Zionist regime (Israel) is irresponsible and contrary to international standards since it endangers regional security by encouraging the Zionist regime to continue its crimes,” Pezeshkian told Starmer.