UK rules out entering 'Iraq-style war' in Mideast after Iranian drone strike on RAF base
Downing Street insists that the agreement with the US is focused on missile defence, rather than offensive action.
The UK is not being drawn into another Iraq-style war in the Middle East, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has said, after a Royal Air Force (RAF) base in Cyprus was struck by an Iranian drone.
“That’s simply not true,” she told Sky News on Monday.
“We took a very specific decision not to provide support for strikes that were taking place over this weekend. We have been clear that we believe there should be a diplomatic process, a negotiation process.”
Cooper said the UK had to "recognise responsibilities we have around defensive support.”
“This is about the defence of our partners in the Gulf and the defence of countries where we have so many British citizens and interests in those countries,” she said.
“It’s a specific, limited agreement about the defence of Gulf countries, and many of those Gulf countries were not involved in any of the strikes on Iran.
Evacuation plan
“So, for example, it doesn’t mean political and economic and infrastructure targets, but there is a significant issue about ballistic missiles and launchers that were effectively pointed at the Gulf, pointed at our partner countries, and countries where we have so many British citizens.”
Ministers are now considering contingency plans to evacuate around 300,000 British nationals from the region, Cooper confirmed.
When asked if the UK risked being drawn into an escalating conflict at the request of US President Donald Trump, Cooper declined.
The attack against the RAF base came amid a wave of strikes by Tehran across the region following joint US-Israeli strikes on Saturday that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Iranian missiles and drones have caused damage and casualties across the Gulf region, as well as in Israel. The UK had no involvement in the initial US-Israeli strikes.
‘Very disappointed’
Trump said he was "very disappointed" with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for not allowing the US to use the Diego Garcia air base to carry out strikes on Iran, the Daily Telegraph quoted the US president as saying in an interview.
Britain had initially denied the US permission to conduct air strikes from its bases, but on Sunday evening, Starmer said he was accepting a request for their use in any "defensive strikes" the US wanted to make against Iranian targets.
Trump told the British newspaper on Monday that it took "too long" for Starmer to change his mind.
"That's probably never happened between our countries before," he told The Telegraph, adding: "It sounds like he was worried about the legality."