Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The UK has agreed to a United States request to use British military bases for “defensive” strikes on Iranian missile sites, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said.
According to a Downing Street statement, the UK has agreed to allow the US to use British bases to carry out “operations to degrade the missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz,”
Britain is working with international partners to develop “a viable plan to safeguard international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” said the statement.
Despite the move, the statement stressed that the UK is committed to “not getting drawn into the wider conflict.”
Starmer said the UK had learned lessons from the “mistakes of Iraq”, and was not involved in the initial strikes on Iran and “will not join offensive action now”, reported BBC.
The BBC understands the US is likely to use RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for strikes on Iranian missile sites.
Iranian strikes have “hit airports and hotels where British citizens are staying”, and “hit a military base in Bahrain, narrowly missing British personnel”, Starmer said.
He added, “The only way to stop the threat is to destroy the missiles at source, in their storage depots, or the launchers which are used to fire the missiles.
“The United States has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose. “We have taken the decision to accept this request to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region, killing innocent civilians, putting British lives at risk, and hitting countries that have not been involved.”
Starmer had said UK aircraft were “in the sky” in the Middle East as part of a defensive operation to protect its allies and citizens in the region, but said the UK “played no role” in the strikes.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi warned his British counterpart on March 20 against providing any assistance to the US and Israeli aggression against Iran, cautioning that such support would fuel further escalation, reports Xinhua news agency.
Later, Araghchi took to X and said, “Vast majority of the British people do not want any part in the Israel-US war of choice on Iran.”
“Ignoring his own People, Starmer is putting British lives in danger by allowing UK bases to be used for aggression against Iran. Iran will exercise its right to self-defence,” he said.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the decision to let the US use UK military bases was “better late than never” and described Starmer as “a follower, not a leader”.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski condemned the move, saying Starmer had jumped into “yet another Middle East illegal war”.
