John McDonnell hits out at government's response to Iran crisis as he joins protesters outside Downing Street

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Stephanie Cockroft4 January 2020

Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell has criticised the Government's failure to condemn a US airstrike in Iraq as he joined protesters at a Stop the War Coalition demonstration outside Downing Street.

Mr McDonnell and his colleague shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon are among around 150 demonstrators who are calling for the US to avoid any further conflict with Iran after the strike killed a top Iranian general.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called for calm and urged all aggressors to de-escalate, following Friday's attack on General Qassem Soleimani, while Prime Minister Boris Johnson has so far remained silent on the situation.

"We’ve been here before, we were here 17 years ago. And there’s one lesson that came from those events, is that violence begets violence,” Mr McDonnell said.

“And it was acts like this that led us to the catastrophic war in Iraq.

The protest has been organised in response to the killing of Qasem Soleimani
PA

“It’s so easy, so easy to happen as a result of the foreign policy of aggressive imperialism that the US now has resorted to yet again under Donald Trump."

Mr McDonnell added: "And it’s not good enough for the UK government just to appeal for a de-escalation, what we expect the UK government to do is to come out in total and outright condemnation of this act of violence.”

“We will not tolerate us being dragged yet again into this type of aggressive military action which puts us all at risk.”

The Stop the War Coalition, which is dedicated to preventing and ending war in the Middle East and elsewhere, organised the protest in response to the death of Iran general Qasem Soleimani, who was killed alongside five others in a US drone strike at Baghdad airport . ​

Lindsey German, convenor of the coalition, said “war has been on the cards for quite a long time now” due to Donald Trump “tearing up” the Iran nuclear deal and placing “draconian sanctions” on the country.

The Stop the War Coalitions is dedicated to preventing and ending war in the Middle East
PA

“You can argue about whether this is prelude to war, but it is an act of war, you don’t assassinate a top general without it being something where you know there’s going to be serious consequences,” she said.

"I hope we’re not seeing, as some people put on Twitter, World War III, we’re still some way from that obviously.

“But the way that these wars begin is with all sorts of steps where people think, ‘I can do this and get away with it’. That’s how you can drift into it.”

Ms German continued: “They’ve done these assassinations of (Abu Bakr) al-Baghdadi, the Isis leader, and of Osama Bin Laden, these were both people who didn’t have a state behind them, leaders of terrorist organisations.

“That’s not the same as Soleimani, one of the top military and, in a way, political figures in Iran.

“So it’s not going to just be that they won’t do anything, the Iranians will do something, the Iraqis will do something.

“The funerals today have got huge crowds at them and this will be remembered.

Ms German said the UK government should play a role in helping to end sanctions and to restore the nuclear deal.

“I think the UK government should condemn it, it’s an illegal act apart from anything else,” she said.

“I think they should make it clear that they don’t want anything to do with any follow-up military aggression that the Americans are involved in.

“We surely have to have a situation where we try to do everything we can to encourage other countries not to possess and develop nuclear weapons.”

Amid heightened tensions over the killing, British nationals have been advised not to travel to Iraq, apart from essential travel to its Kurdistan Region, while all but essential travel to Iran was warned against.

The Foreign Office warned anyone in Iraq outside the Kurdistan Region should consider leaving by commercial means because the "uncertain" security situation "could deteriorate quickly".

Alerts regarding other Middle East nations were also being increased, with calls for citizens to "remain vigilant" in nations including Afghanistan, Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the Untied Arab Emirates.

The US President said he ordered a strike to prevent a conflict, but Tehran has vowed harsh retaliation - raising fears of an all-out war.

It came as mourners in Iraq attended a funeral procession for the top general
REUTERS

An American official denied the nation was behind a second deadly air strike on two vehicles being reported north of Baghdad.

Gen Soleimani masterminded Tehran's regional security strategy, including the war against the Islamic State terror group, and was blamed for attacks on US and allied troops.

President Trump continued with his rhetoric despite widespread calls for calm, saying that Gen Soleimani's "reign of terror is over" and describing him as having a "sick passion" for killing.

Former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt stressed the peril being faced after recent "extreme" actions by both the US and Iran, which have simmered since Mr Trump tore up a nuclear deal between the nations

"Well it's an incredibly dangerous game of chicken that's going on at the moment, because both sides have calculated that the other side cannot afford, and doesn't want, to go to war," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Mr Hunt said the tensions created a "very difficult situation" for the UK as an ally of the States, adding Britain "cannot afford to be neutral".

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks following the US Military airstrike
REUTERS

"But this is a very, very risky situation, and I think the job that we have to do as one of the US's closest allies is to use our influence to argue for more consistent US policy," he said.

There has been criticism of the US for not giving advanced notice of the attack to the UK, which has hundreds of troops deployed in Iraq.

Mr Hunt said the failure to notify was "regrettable" because allies should ensure "there are no surprises in the relationship".

Boris Johnson has been on holiday celebrating the New Year with his partner Carrie Symonds on the private Caribbean island of Mustique. He has not commented on the general's killing.

The Prime Minister is expected to return to the UK early on Sunday, amid a letter being sent to him by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn requesting an urgent meeting of the privy council.

Jeremy Corbyn wrote to the Prime Minister calling for an urgent meeting of the Privy Council, the group that advises monarchs.

The outgoing Labour leader wanted to know if the "assassination" had heightened the terror risk to the UK and whether the Government had been informed of the decision to strike.

He had earlier called on ministers to stand up to the US's "belligerent actions and rhetoric" and "urge restraint" from both aggressors.

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