British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly emphasized "the importance of promoting the Arab initiative and a two-state solution," noting in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat in Riyadh that, "We have been working very hard to prevent this from turning into a regional conflict." He mentioned that he spoke with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia (Prince Faisal bin Farhan), Lebanon (Abdallah Bouhabib), and Jordan (Ayman Safadi) about this matter. "Just two days ago, I spoke with the Iranian Foreign Minister (Hussein Amir Abdollahian). All my talks are focused on trying to prevent the spread of this situation to neighboring countries," he added.
Cleverly also stated, "I told the Iranian Foreign Minister that the Iranians must use their influence over Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the militias in Iraq and Syria to make it clear that they should not exploit this as an opportunity to create more violence in Iraq and the region." He justified the negative implications of the European stance supporting the US position following the UN call for a ceasefire in Gaza by expressing "concern for the lives of Israelis threatened by Hamas," urging for "a Palestinian authority that reassures Israel alongside reassuring the Palestinian people."
