DUP leader Gavin Robinson says Iranian regime has 'very strong connections' with terrorists in Northern Ireland

Gavin Robinson said he would not "argue the toss about whether the intervention of the weekend was legal or not", but added that the UK "should have been involved earlier".

Iran and Iranian-backed militias have fired missiles at Israel and Arab states, while Israel and the US pounded targets in Iran as the war in the Middle East expands.

Cyprus said a drone attack targeted a British base, RAF Akrotiri, hours after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced that American forces would be allowed to use British bases to strike Iranian missile sites.

About 300,000 Britons are believed to be in countries targeted by Iran, and 102,000 are registered with the Foreign Office for updates, as officials examine all options, including a potential mass evacuation.

Mr Robinson said Iran "has had very strong connections with terrorists who tried to destroy Northern Ireland", and that the Iranian people now had the opportunity "to pursue democracy for their own benefit and nobody else's".

"I shed no tears for the ayatollah, and I won't concern myself about whether individuals want to argue the toss about whether the intervention of the weekend was legal or not," he said.

"This happened. This regime was trying to assassinate the president of the United States, supports terror all around the world, and he's gone."

Asked if he supported the UK Government's involvement, he said: "I think it is a matter of fact that we are involved. I think we should have been involved earlier.

"At least we shouldn't have denied the use of our RAF bases."

Meanwhile the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland said it is "genuinely disappointing" that First Minister Michelle O'Neill did not attend a second UK Government briefing on the situation in Iran.

Emma Little-Pengelly said the intention of the briefings, the first of which she attended on Saturday and then on Monday, were to "inform us about the impact of this conflict".

Ms O'Neill said she was in "ongoing contact with the Irish and British governments" but that she "will not be part of any briefing by the British Government on their military operations".

Speaking during Executive Office questions, Ms Little-Pengelly described a "murderous, appalling regime" in Iran.

"I absolutely stand with the Iranians who have suffered from this oppressive, evil regime for many, many decades.

"I am absolutely baffled as to why some in this chamber support, or appear to support that regime," she told MLAs.

She went on to claim: "When I looked up why that possibly could be, it was very clear that, for example, Sinn Fein have had a long-running relationship with the Iranian regime going back many, many decades.

"I do not understand that. They oppress women's rights, they have murdered women for the audacity of not wearing a head shawl.

"They have killed people because they are LGBT. They have been a source of supporting terror right across not just that region, but across the globe, they have been a regime that has been oppressive and evil and murderous, and it does not deserve any support from any single person in this chamber."

After her briefing at PSNI headquarters in Belfast on Monday, Ms Little-Pengelly said she was not given a number for people from Northern Ireland currently in countries being targeted by Iran but that "registration across the United Kingdom is in excess of 120/130,000", marking "a significant increase from yesterday".

She told reporters: "The scale of the numbers of people from across the UK in the region, well in excess of 100,000, that does make emergency evacuation very challenging. I would suspect that would be unprecedented in terms of numbers for evacuation.

"But I think it's really important that we continue to keep a very close eye on what is happening day in and day out over the next number of days."

Ms Little-Pengelly said it was "genuinely disappointing" that Ms O'Neill had chosen not to attend the briefing.

"The reality is this, we are not being asked our view on military manoeuvres or tactics, that is not the role of these briefings.

"These briefings will give us an overview about what is happening in a military sense, in the region, to inform us about the impact of this conflict on the UK, on us here in Northern Ireland , but in particular, all those many thousands of people that are in the region at the moment that are very apprehensive."

The Iranian Red Crescent Society said the US-Israeli air strike campaign that began at the weekend had killed 555 people in Iran so far.