UK will allow US to use its bases to strike Iranian missile sites, Starmer says
The UK will allow the US to use British bases for the purpose of targeting Iranian missile sites "at source", Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced.
The UK has not taken part in the US-Israeli strikes against Iran but has engaged in defensive operations in the Gulf against Iranian missile attacks over the past two days.
On Sunday, Starmer said in an address from Downing Street: "We have British jets in the air as part of coordinated defensive operations, which have already successfully intercepted Iranian strikes.
"But 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," Starmer said.
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"We have taken the decision to accept this request to prevent Iran from firing missiles across the region, killing innocent civilians, putting British lives at risk and hitting countries that have not been involved.
"The basis of our decision is the collective self-defence of long-standing friends and allies, and protecting British lives."
The UK reportedly shot down a missile heading towards a base housing its service personnel in Iraq on Saturday.
Starmer said in his address that hundreds of British troops were just 200 metres away from an Iranian missile attack in Bahrain.
He said Iran has "hit airports and hotels where British citizens are staying", and that "we have at least 200,000 British citizens in the region. Residents, families on holiday and those in transit."
'Iran is striking British interests'
Starmer said "the best way forward for the region and for the world is a negotiated settlement, one in which Iran agrees to give up any aspirations to develop a nuclear weapon."
He added: "But Iran is striking British interests nonetheless and putting British people at huge risk along with our allies across the region."
He said the government would publish a summary of the legal advice it had received.
This development likely means the US will use the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean Chagos Archipelago. The base places US bomber aircraft within 5,300km of Iran.
Iran's Shahed-136 kamikaze drones have the range to attack Diego Garcia, which houses around 4,000 people, mostly US military personnel and contractors.
The UK also has airbases in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Cyprus.
This comes after Reform UK and the Conservative Party called on Saturday for Britain to allow the US to use British bases for attacks on Iran.
Starmer's insistence that the bases will be used for "defensive" purposes is unlikely to convince his political opponents who have opposed British involvement in the US-Israeli attacks.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski told the BBC earlier on Sunday that he was worried the UK would be dragged into an "illegal war".
"Iraq lessons must be learned," he said. "Further escalation in the Middle East makes us all less safe.
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