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| A Royal Air Force Typhoon jet (Image: Getty Images) |
Sir Keir Starmer has stated that talks would be the best course of action and that he stands by his decision not to participate in the initial US-Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday. At a Downing Street news conference, the PM said the UK had "the strength to stand by our values and our principles no matter the pressure to do otherwise".
He went on to say that efforts should be made to "de-escalate" the conflict, adding that the UK's long-standing position was that the best course of action was a "negotiated settlement with Iran where they give up their nuclear ambitions." When he announced that the UK would be sending four additional Typhoon fighter jets to Qatar, Sir Keir stated that the conflict could continue for "some time."
Read More: Starmer tries to reassure as Iran crisis deepens
Trump has already criticized the prime minister and said that he is "not Winston Churchill" for refusing to allow the use of UK bases in the initial strikes. Sunday, the United States asked the United Kingdom to use British military bases only for defensive strikes against Iranian missile sites. Trump stated that the UK-US relationship was "not what it was" and that the initial decision was "shocking." However, Sir Keir insisted that the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom had not been broken. He told reporters on Thursday, "Look, the special relationship is in operation right now." "We are routinely exchanging intelligence round-the-clock. That is the unique connection." Thursday's meeting of the government's emergency committee Cobra was presided over by Sir Keir, who acknowledged that individuals are "worried sick about their family and friends who are caught up in this." He stated, "We will do everything in our power to safeguard British lives." The Prime Minister denied that the United Kingdom was unprepared for the conflict, pointing out that Britain, along with the United States and other allies, began pre-deploying assets to the region earlier this year, particularly to Qatar and Cyprus. According to sources in the defense industry, the United Kingdom has sent 400 more personnel to Cyprus over the past few weeks to help with air defense activities at the UK's bases there. It comes after British bases in Bahrain and Cyprus were attacked over the weekend, and the government was criticized for its response. The prime minister stated, "A lot of pre-planning and pre-deployment has gone into this." "I am satisfied that we can protect our personnel." Two wildcat helicopters equipped with anti-drone capabilities will also arrive in Cyprus on Friday, in addition to the Typhoon jets, which defense sources claim will be deployed "rapidly." The British warship HMS Dragon will also sail to Cyprus, according to Defence Secretary John Healey, but it won't arrive until "within the next couple of weeks," as he told the BBC. It comes after a drone struck the RAF Akrotiri runway on Sunday, causing "minimal damage," according to the Ministry of Defense.
"Sometimes the best way to de-escalate a situation is to try and finish it quickly, rather than letting it drag out because you don't want to get involved," Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch stated earlier on BBC Radio 4's Today program. "Whether we liked it or not, I think we became part of this once our bases were attacked." According to the PM's spokesman, Healey met with his counterpart Vasilis Palmas on Thursday in Cyprus to talk about how the UK was strengthening its air defenses to support "our shared security." Speaking to the BBC afterwards, he declined to answer whether he would rule out the UK joining the US and Israel strikes on Iran.
"At this point, we're doing what the British do best. He stated, "Cyprus has more jets than any other country." "The nature of any war, and any conflict, is that it changes," however, he stated. He added, "We just don't know for sure what the Iranians will do," and that the United Kingdom would modify its strategy to safeguard the British people, forces, and allies. Additionally, he stated that "probably fired from Lebanon" was the most accurate assessment of the drone that struck the Akrotiri base. The UK has updated its Cyprus travel advice to include a warning about the possibility of a terrorist attack.
Sir Keir also stated that, after being delayed, the first government-chartered flight for Britons stuck in the Middle East has taken off from Oman. The repatriation flight from Oman was scheduled to take off on Wednesday evening, but technical difficulties prevented it from doing so. According to Sir Keir, approximately 4,000 Britons had already returned home from the region, and thousands more were still stranded in the Middle East. He stated that the UK government has received a presence registration from more than 140,000 individuals in the region. Sir Keir stated that the government will lay off additional charter flights in the coming days, and that seven additional flights are scheduled to depart the UAE for the UK on Thursday. He stated that British Airways was operating daily flights out of Oman and that the government would continue to collaborate with partners to "increase the speed and capacity of this airlift." Iran has launched attacks in the Gulf against Israel and US-allied nations, including Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, in response to US-Israeli air strikes.
Source: BBC
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