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Keir Starmer backs US strike on Iran and calls for Tehran to return to talks Keir Starmer backs US strike on Iran but warns of wider ‘escalation’ risk
(about 5 hours later)
Prime minister says there is ‘risk of escalation’ in region and beyond after US attacks on three nuclear sites PM calls on Tehran to return to negotiations and holds talks with Macron and Merz after US attack on three nuclear sites
Middle East crisis – latest updatesMiddle East crisis – latest updates
Keir Starmer has backed the US strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities and called on Iran to return to negotiations, saying the country’s nuclear programme was a “grave threat to international security”. Keir Starmer has warned of a “risk of escalation” in the Middle East and beyond as a result of the US bombing of Iran, but said he backed the strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities and called on Tehran to return to negotiations.
The prime minister said on Sunday there was a “risk of escalation” after the US strikes against Iran, including “beyond the region”. The prime minister, who was quick to clarify that the UK had not been involved in the strikes, held talks with France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, on Sunday afternoon after convening a Cobra meeting in the aftermath of the US attack.
“It is important that we now de-escalate the situation, stabilise the region and get the parties back around the table to negotiate,” he told broadcasters. The US made no request for any UK assistance in the bombing of the three nuclear sites, the Guardian understands, including any use of the leased Diego Garcia base in the Chagos Islands, the recent subject of a controversial deal with Mauritius.
Donald Trump announced overnight that the US had bombed three nuclear sites in Iran, joining Israel’s attack on the Tehran regime. In a joint statement, the three European leaders said it was “clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and can no longer pose a threat to regional security”. They said their joint aim was to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and called on Tehran to address all concerns associated with the nuclear programme.
There was no UK involvement in the action. Starmer and the foreign secretary, David Lammy, had pushed for a diplomatic solution. The US made no request for any UK assistance, the Guardian understands. “We stand ready to contribute to that goal in coordination with all parties,” the statement said. “We urge Iran not to take any further action that could destabilise the region. We will continue our joint diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions and ensure the conflict does not intensify and spread further.”
Starmer convened a Cobra meeting in London on Sunday afternoon after holding calls with the sultan of Oman and the king of Jordan. No 10 said the leaders agreed that “escalation of the conflict is in no one’s interests”. Starmer warned earlier that it was possible the fallout from the conflict could reverberate beyond the region. “It is important that we now de-escalate the situation, stabilise the region and get the parties back around the table to negotiate,” he told broadcasters.
As recently as Tuesday at the G7 summit, Starmer had said he did not have any indication the US was planning on joining the attack, though later in the week he had warned of a “real risk of escalation” in the conflict, adding there had been several rounds of discussions with Washington and “that, to me, is the way to resolve this issue”. Flights from London to Dubai and Doha were cancelled after a British Airways flight from Heathrow to Dubai was forced to divert to Zurich on Saturday night. Israel announced on Sunday that it had closed its airspace to inbound and outbound flights.
On Sunday morning, Starmer said: “Iran’s nuclear programme is a grave threat to international security. Iran can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and the US has taken action to alleviate that threat. After Starmer spoke earlier on Sunday with the sultan of Oman and the king of Jordan, No 10 said the leaders agreed that “escalation of the conflict is in no one’s interests”.
“The situation in the Middle East remains volatile and stability in the region is a priority. We call on Iran to return to the negotiating table and reach a diplomatic solution to end this crisis.” The US decision to join Israel’s offensive against Iran came after western leaders, including Starmer, had urged restraint. They are due to meet again on Tuesday at the Nato summit in the Netherlands.
The business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, said the UK did not receive a request from the US to use its Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean. As recently as last Tuesday at the G7 summit, which Trump left early, Starmer said he did not have any indication the US was planning on joining the attack, though later in the week he had warned of a “real risk of escalation” in the conflict, adding there had been several rounds of discussions with Washington and “that, to me, is the way to resolve this issue”.
He told Sky News: “We support the prevention of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. We had proposed a diplomatic course of action, as other European countries had done; the Iranians had rejected that. The business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, told Sky News that while the UK had preferred a different path, the outcome was in British interests. “We support the prevention of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. We had proposed a diplomatic course of action, as other European countries had done; the Iranians had rejected that.
“I know people will be waking up this morning and they’ll be worried. They’ll want to know what this means, and I do want to give them reassurance that whilst the British government has not been involved in these attacks, we have been making extensive preparations for all eventualities.”“I know people will be waking up this morning and they’ll be worried. They’ll want to know what this means, and I do want to give them reassurance that whilst the British government has not been involved in these attacks, we have been making extensive preparations for all eventualities.”
Reynolds said the British people should be in no doubt that the Iranian regime did pose a threat to the UK, but he said regime change in Tehran was “not the question” when it came to these strikes. Reynolds said the British people should be in no doubt that the Iranian regime did pose a threat to the UK, but that regime change in Tehran was “not the question” when it came to these strikes.
“I wanted a different way to obtain this, but I cannot pretend to you that the prevention of Iran having a nuclear weapon is anything other than [in] the interests of this country,” Reynolds told the BBC.“I wanted a different way to obtain this, but I cannot pretend to you that the prevention of Iran having a nuclear weapon is anything other than [in] the interests of this country,” Reynolds told the BBC.
“This is very different to what we saw with the invasion of Iraq … I think stability for the region would come about through an agreement where Iran would acknowledge that, because of its behaviour, no country in that theatre or the wider world would be able to countenance it having nuclear weapons.”“This is very different to what we saw with the invasion of Iraq … I think stability for the region would come about through an agreement where Iran would acknowledge that, because of its behaviour, no country in that theatre or the wider world would be able to countenance it having nuclear weapons.”
He said the threat from Iran was “an active one … this is at the forefront of risks to the United Kingdom and our security apparatus has to do a great deal to keep the country safe”. He said the threat from Iran was “an active one … This is at the forefront of risks to the United Kingdom and our security apparatus has to do a great deal to keep the country safe.”
Iran’s ambassador to the UK, Seyed Ali Mousavi, said his country was “considering the quantity and quality” of its reaction and retaliation for the US overnight strikes. The chair of the foreign affairs select committee, Emily Thornberry, said the strikes were a “big mistake”. She told the BBC: “The concern is it will just become a wider conflict, and we are at a very dangerous moment. The war aim is supposed to be to stop the Iranians building a bomb, but this isn’t the way to do it.
He refused to say if Iran would stop firing missiles at Israel, insisting it was defending itself in line with its sovereign rights. “At best, it can slow down the Iranians. The way to stop them building a bomb is negotiation.”
Asked what Iran would do in response to the overnight US strikes, he told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “Our authorities are considering the quantity and quality of our reaction and retaliation. Everything is going to be according to our rights.” Labour and opposition MPs are likely to raise concerns in parliament when they return on Monday afternoon. The Green party co-leader, Adrian Ramsay, said: “We utterly condemn the reckless attacks on Iran by the United States that can only lead to further dangerous conflict in an already volatile region.
After MI5 said Iran had been linked to more than 20 plots in the UK, Mousavi claimed that reports and suggestions that Iran posed a threat to the UK were based on misinformation. “There is no international legal basis for this unilateral action that poses a serious threat to international peace and security.”
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, told the same programme: “We were very cautious all throughout, as you can see, and we decided to leave it to the Americans and the president if he wanted to carry out the strike. The strike was aimed at very specific installations where the Iranian nuclear programme was advanced. The foreign secretary, David Lammy, had urged the US to pull back from the brink on a visit to Washington for talks with his counterpart, Marco Rubio, before attending talks with Iran on Friday alongside European allies in Geneva.
“It’s quite clear to me that the Iranian nuclear programme has been hit substantially [but] … I don’t know the details.”
In an address to the US public from the White House, Trump said there could be further strikes if Iran retaliated. “There will either be peace or there will be tragedy for Iran,” he said.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the attacks “will have everlasting consequences” and that Tehran “reserves all options” to retaliate.
Lammy had urged the US to pull back from the brink on a visit to Washington for talks with his counterpart, Marco Rubio, before attending talks with Iran on Friday alongside European allies in Geneva.
The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said the US strike was “decisive action against a regime that fuels global terror and directly threatens the UK. Iranian operatives have plotted murders and attacks on British soil. We should stand firmly with the US and Israel.”The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said the US strike was “decisive action against a regime that fuels global terror and directly threatens the UK. Iranian operatives have plotted murders and attacks on British soil. We should stand firmly with the US and Israel.”
Overnight, Iran launched a ballistic missile barrage against Israel in retaliation against the US action.Overnight, Iran launched a ballistic missile barrage against Israel in retaliation against the US action.