UK government charter flight to evacuate British nationals from Middle East ‘in coming days’
A government charter flight to evacuate British citizens stranded by the escalating US-Iran war will depart Oman “in the coming days”, the foreign secretary has confirmed.
Yvette Cooper also told the House of Commons that 130,000 British citizens have signed up to the ‘register your presence’ scheme which allows them to receive updates from the British government as conflicts in the Middle East escalate.
Explosions were felt in cities in the Gulf after the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran on Saturday. Iran retaliated with counter-attacks targeting military bases in the region; Cyprus and Kuwait are among many countries that have recorded drones moving towards bases occupied by UK and US forces.
But the crisis has also spread to residential and tourist hotspots, with tourism hotspots such as Dubai coming under fire with missile attacks over the weekend.
While large airspace in the region remains closed, very few flights have left the area due to the conflict, leaving thousands of people stranded.
Confirming the news of the evacuation flight, Ms Cooper said a government plane would depart from Muscat, Oman.
Ms Cooper told MPs: “Members will know that airspace is still closed in many of these countries, but I am in close contact with colleagues in the region and spoke to the UAE again yesterday about the excellent support they are providing and some of the departures they are currently securing as this becomes possible.
“We are also working with airlines to increase capacity for British nationals outside Muscat, prioritizing vulnerable nationals, and a government charter flight will fly from Muscat in the coming days, prioritizing vulnerable nationals, but British nationals in Oman should expect to be contacted by the foreign office regarding these options and we will continue to work 24/7 to support British nationals in the region.
“I can tell the representative that this is a very fast-moving situation. We have an unprecedented number of British nationals in the region and I will continue to update members and affected British nationals as the situation develops.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has been branded useless by US President Donald Trump, who launched air strikes on the region after accusing Tehran of waging “an endless campaign of bloodshed and mass murder targeting the US”.
Sir Keir on Monday publicly criticized the US President’s bombing campaign, saying his government “does not believe in regime change from the skies”, after previously refusing to allow US attacks from UK bases.
Mr Trump hit back by claiming Sir Keir was “unhelpful” and described the transatlantic dispute as “very sad” and said the so-called special relationship between Britain and the US had fundamentally changed. Sun Monday evening.
“This was the strongest relationship between them. We now have very strong relationships with other countries in Europe,” he said. “It won’t matter but (Ser Keir) should have helped… should have.
“I mean, France was great. They were all great. The UK was very different from the others.”
Darren Jones, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said the initial US and Israeli strikes on Iran “did not meet the test set by the Prime Minister” as Britain faced questions about the extent of its support for America’s course of action.
Chris Philp, speaking on behalf of the Conservative Party, said US action against Iran was “entirely justified” and that Sir Keir had “seriously undermined” the special relationship by not immediately supporting it.
“With his actions, Keir Starmer has very seriously undermined our special relationship with the United States, which has been the basis of our security for decades,” he said.
