Rishi Sunak called for “calm heads” to prevail in the Middle East after reports Israel launced a retaliatory attack against Iran overnight on Thursday (April 18). Explosions were reportledy heard near a major military airbase. Asked about the incident after a speech on welfare reform in London on Friday, Mr Sunak said: “We have condemned Iran’s reckless and dangerous barrage of missiles against Israel on Saturday, and Israel absolutely has the right to self defence. “But as I said to Prime Minister Netanyahu when I spoke to him last week, and more generally, significant escalation is not in anyone’s interest. What we want to see is calm heads prevail across the region.”