UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said this Sunday, March 1, that he has accepted a request from the United States to use British bases in the Persian Gulf region to attack Iranian missile storage and launch facilities.
“The only way to end this threat of Iranian attacks on neighboring countries is to destroy the missiles at their source,” Starmer said in a video posted on his X profile. “The basis of our decision is the collective self-defense of long-time friends and allies, and the protection of British lives,” he highlighted.
Starmer stressed that the United Kingdom is not involved in the attacks promoted since Saturday, 28, by the USA and Israel on Iran and will not get involved, but said that Iranian retaliations have hit civilian targets in partner nations and put British citizens living in the region at risk. “Our partners in the Gulf have asked us to do more to defend them, and it is my duty to protect British lives,” he said.
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In addition to Israel, Iranian retaliations hit targets in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Starmer reported that the British military already keeps “jets in the air as part of defensive operations that have successfully intercepted Iranian attacks.”
The prime minister also said that his country will bring Ukrainian and British experts to help “our partners in the Gulf shoot down Iranian drones.” Ukrainians have faced Iranian drones in their own war because Russia uses such equipment.
By reiterating that the use of the bases is for defensive purposes only and does not imply his country’s involvement in the attack on Iran, Starmer recalled the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, with support from Great Britain. “We all remember the mistakes in Iraq and we have learned the lessons,” he declared. The offensive overthrew Saddam Hussein’s regime, but plunged the Arab country into chaos whose effects are still felt today.
