The Bishop of Chelmsford, Rt Rev Dr Guli Francis Dehqani, who fled Iran as a teenager, has urged world powers to “come back to the table” as drone and missile strikes enter a third day across the Middle East.

Speaking to Premier Christian News, Bishop Guli described events in her homeland as "complex" and “massively disastrous,” warning of the regime’s instability. “It’s not a question of if it ends, but when,” she said. “Part of the problem for Iran is that there is no credible opposition around which people will coalesce for change. There will be people who are slightly more moderate, but whether they will have the ability to make any significant changes… I doubt that very much.”

The conflict has already claimed lives and caused damage across the region. Officials in Kuwait reported several US fighter jets have crashed, while 31 people have died in Lebanon amid Israeli strikes. Meanwhile, the President of Cyprus confirmed that a British RAF runway in Akrotiri was hit in a counter-strike, though only “minimal damage” occurred. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has offered two Cypriot bases to the US in support of defence operations.

Bishop Guli emphasised that while a new system of democracy in Iran “feels like a long way off,” the West should be supportive rather than combative. “The people of Iran need agency to decide what comes next for themselves. They could do with other countries’ support for that change. You know, in God’s time, all things are possible,” she said.

Reflecting on the season of Lent, she added that Iranians are “walking the way of the cross,” and urged Christians worldwide to remain “a people of hope.” “We have to have hope,” she said. “If we can get the leaders of nations back around the table, talking and putting down their weapons and guns, then that has to be a good thing.”