Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has announced he is visiting Israel tonight.
He is the first of the P5 + 1 leaders to visit Benjamin Netanyahu since the news of the Iran nuclear deal was released yesterday .
Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Hammond suggested Israel was opposed to any deal with Iran, and indicated that he thought Israel wanted a permanent stand-off.
He said: “I will set out the case to the Israeli Prime Minister and I’ve no doubt I’ll hear – in great length – his opposition.”
Mr Hammond has been a strong backer of Israel, saying last year : "We are absolutely clear that Israel has the right to defend itself. We are absolutely clear that there is no justification at all for the rocket attacks launched out of Gaza into southern Israel.”
Speaking yesterday, Mr Hammond told reporters that the deal was about more than just the nuclear issue. He said: "The big prize here is that, as Iran comes out of the isolation of the last decades and is much more engaged with Western countries, Iranians hopefully begin to travel in larger numbers again, Western companies are able to invest and trade with Iran, there is an opportunity for an opening now."
