Britain did not provide military support to Israel’s attack on Iran or help down Iranian drones, the UK government has said, as the prime minister called for all parties to urgently de-escalate after the airstrikes that were launched overnight.

The prime minister’s spokesperson said that “the UK did not participate in Israel’s strikes overnight” and indicated the RAF had not taken part in any military action to knock out Iranian drones attacking Israel in a counterattack launched by Tehran in the morning.

The US has also said it was not involved in the attack on Iran – describing the Israeli action as unilateral – but warned Iran and its allies not to target US interests or personnel in the region.

The UK was involved in Israel’s defence in April 2024 when RAF Typhoons were involved in shooting down drones fired by Iran and to a more limited extent in October 2024 during a ballistic missile attack by Tehran.

The response comes amid a hardening of the British line against Israel, with ministers having condemned its aid blockade of Gaza and placed sanctions on two members of the Israeli government.

Keir Starmer said on Friday: “The reports of these strikes are concerning and we urge all parties to step back and reduce tensions urgently. Escalation serves no one in the region. Stability in the Middle East must be the priority and we are engaging partners to de-escalate. Now is the time for restraint, calm and a return to diplomacy.”

Sarah Jones, the industry minister, told Sky News the government was “doing everything we can to urge restraint and to try and de-escalate the situation”.

Israel said on Friday it had attacked the targets inside Iran because Tehran had begun to build nuclear warheads. With Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, threatening “severe punishment”, the Israeli military said on Friday it was trying to intercept 100 drones that Iran had launched against it.

With world leaders calling for restraint on both sides, British ministers and officials met on Friday morning to decide their response. People briefed on those meetings said in the early morning the UK had decided not to help shoot down the drones or intervene militarily, only for the position to become less clear later.

Britain has justified previous interventions on the grounds it was coming to Israel’s defence, providing a small contribution alongside the US and Jordanian air forces. The US said it shot down 70 drones last April.

Since then the British government has become increasingly angered by Israel’s actions, especially in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces have killed scores of Palestinians trying to access humanitarian aid.

In a coordinated response, European leaders called for immediate de-escalation on Friday and urged against retaliation. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, described the Israeli attacks as “deeply alarming”.

A diplomatic resolution was “more urgent than ever” for regional stability and global security, von der Leyen said. Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, echoed the call, saying Berlin would use “all available diplomatic means” to avoid escalation.

The aim must remain “that Iran not develop any nuclear weapons”, Merz added. France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, also appealed for restraint, adding that Paris had “repeatedly condemned” Iran’s nuclear programme.

In that context, Macron said, France “reaffirms Israel’s right to defend itself and ensure its security”. Macron, Merz and Starmer spoke by telephone on Friday morning and agreed to remain “in close contact”, Berlin said.

The Italian foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, said he had called his Israeli counterpart to urge de-escalation and would make the same request to Iran’s foreign minister later. “I will insist on support for diplomacy,’’ Tajani told Italian TV.

Some leaders were openly critical of Israel’s actions. The Spanish deputy prime minister Yolanda Díaz accused the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, of “dragging the world towards an escalation of war”. She called for “respect for international law, immediate sanctions against the Israeli regime and a multilateral route toward a just and lasting peace”.

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, described the attacks as a “clear provocation”, adding that “Netanyahu and his massacre network” were “setting our entire region and the world on fire”.