‘Best way forward’ for Iran would be negotiated settlement, says Starmer | Foreign policy

While Keir Starmer said the Iran conflict plaguing the Middle East could continue “for a while”, he told Donald Trump that the “best way forward” in the long term is a negotiated solution with Tehran.

The Prime Minister said the UK was doing “everything we could” to ease the situation; This is in clear contrast to the US president, who has focused on regime change and said it is “too late” for the Iranian regime to negotiate.

At a Downing Street press conference, he defended his decision to thwart the first US and Israeli attacks at the weekend, saying he “stands by” his decision but denied it had damaged the special relationship.

But Starmer has faced some criticism from Gulf states and Cyprus for not doing enough to protect regional allies and British citizens there from Iranian attacks. He also faced personal attacks from Trump.

The Prime Minister insisted that “all ministers” on the national security council support the UK’s position on the use of British bases, after reports that he faces opposition from the cabinet led by energy minister Ed Miliband.

In response, he told reporters that Britain would use “military and diplomatic force” to protect British citizens, including the deployment of four more Typhoon fighter jets and two anti-missile helicopters to Cyprus on Thursday.

But he harshly rebuked his critics at home and abroad, adding: “This means having the strength to remain true to our values ​​and principles, regardless of pressure to the contrary.

“The long-standing British position has been that the best way forward for the regime and the world is to reach a negotiated agreement with Iran under which it abandons its nuclear ambitions.

“That’s why I took the decision not to join the UK, the US and Israel in their first strike against Iran. This decision was deliberate. It was in the national interest and I stand by that decision.”

Starmer, who attended the second Cobra meeting on the conflict on Thursday, insisted the UK would “maintain the shield” on British people in the region, as well as its allies. Defense secretary John Healey was in Cyprus on Thursday.

Asked whether he was right to suggest that Trump, the man Starmer last spoke to on Saturday night, was undermining bilateral ties, he said special relations were “currently in operation” at UK bases where he works with American counterparts.

“This is a special relationship. This is a special relationship in force, and clearly it is the president’s job to make decisions that he considers to be in the national interest to make decisions that are right for the United States,” he said.

“I understand that, I respect that, but equally, as the British prime minister, it is my duty to make the decisions that I think are in the best interests of the United Kingdom. There is nothing to argue about there. The special relationship is at an important point here.”

More than 4,000 people have now returned to the UK on commercial flights from the UAE, with a further seven expected to leave for the UK on Thursday. The first government charter flight from Oman began on Thursday and additional flights are expected.

But Starmer had a warning for the hundreds of thousands of Britons still stuck in the region. “This is a huge undertaking. One of the largest operations of its kind… orders of magnitude larger than the evacuation from Afghanistan. This will not happen overnight. But we will not stop until our people are safe,” he said.

Starmer did not deny pushing to allow the US to launch defensive strikes from British bases but faced opposition from some cabinet members on Friday. Instead, he said there was no official request from the United States until Saturday.

“Let me be very clear about this: Until Saturday afternoon, there was no request from the United States regarding the terms we agreed to. Therefore, there was no concrete decision to be made on Friday,” he said.

“Then, as you would expect, the next day we discussed the details with the United States… Then on Sunday we worked out the decision, which was the decision of all the ministers among us, that we should take the action that I then announced.”