Can the UK stay out of Trump’s war in Iran? - podcast

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2025/jun/24/can-the-uk-stay-out-of-trumps-war-in-iran-podcast

Version 0 of 2.

Guardian deputy political editor Jessica Elgot on whether the UK government – despite calling for de-escalation for weeks – might be dragged into the conflict in Iran

This episode was recorded before Trump’s announcement late on Monday that Iran and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire

Just a week ago, after a sit-down meal with Donald Trump at the G7 summit, Keir Starmer was telling reporters that ‘nothing the president said suggests he’s about to get involved in this conflict’.

It seemed, and must have seemed to UK government officials too, that weeks of calling for de-escalation and diplomacy had paid off – that Donald Trump was not about to intervene in Israel’s war in Iran.

Then, on Saturday night, the US launched an enormous strike on three nuclear sites in Iran.

Deputy political editor Jessica Elgot talks through Starmer and his government’s response to the escalating crisis since.

And Helen Pidd asks, given the UK’s close relationship to the US, might it still be dragged into this conflict?