Britain to assist bomb Iran and can work with US after strikes
Britain, France and Germany have issued a joint statement threatening to ‘destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones at their source’
Sir Keir Starmer (R) sitting with Emmanuel Macron at the Munich Security Conference(Image: PA Wire)
Britain said it would help bomb Iran have emerged after a pledge to work with its American allies in the Middle East. The UK has agreed to a US request to use British military bases to strike Iranian missile sites, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The UK Prime Minister said the UK “will not join offensive action” in Iran, adding: “We all remember the mistakes of Iraq and we have learned those lessons.”
It comes as Iran continues its assault on the Middle East in revenge attacks for the joint US-Israeli operation yesterday which saw missiles rain down on Tehran, Mirror reports.
In a joint statement with France and Germany, the UK suggested it could join attacks on Iranian soil for the first time.
“We will take steps to defend our interests and those of our allies in the region, potentially through enabling necessary and proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones at their source,” it read.
“We have agreed to work together with the US and allies in the region on this matter.”
It comes as more than 96,000 Brits stranded in the UAE and other Gulf hotspots have already signed up with the government for help, with numbers expected to soar into the hundreds of thousands. Most are holidaymakers or passing through, and with airspace still shut, officials are telling people to stay put for now.
However, plans are being drawn up for a huge evacuation through Saudi Arabia if flights remain grounded. The Foreign Office is reportedly in talks with all major airlines as it faces its biggest-ever operation to track and assist British nationals abroad – and the crisis is only just getting started.
This comes as a major humanitarian and logistical crisis is unfolding in the Middle East after US and Israeli military strikes against Iran on Saturday (February 28) triggered a rapid escalation of conflict across the region.
In retaliation, Iran has launched a barrage of missile attacks targeting US military bases and cities throughout the Gulf, including the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait. “At the moment people are being told to stay put but the government is working on plans to evacuate people through Saudi Arabia if the airspace remains closed for a prolonged period,” The Times’ Steven Swinford shared today (March 1) on X (formerly Twitter).
The political editor added: “The government is also in contact with all the main airlines in the region. The scale of the FCDO operation is unprecedented – never before has it registered so many people in so many countries.
“And it’s only just beginning.” An estimated 250,000 UK citizens are believed to be living in or visiting the region.
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