British troops will not join any ground invasion of Iran, Starmer says
Sir Keir Starmer has ruled out deploying British troops to Iran, insisting the UK will not be “dragged” into Donald Trump’s escalating war in the region.
The United States has sparked fears it is preparing to launch ground operations in Iran at the weekend as hostilities between Tehran and Washington enter their second month.
The Prime Minister has faced criticism from allies and foes alike for his approach to the conflict, but on Monday he doubled down on his stance when asked whether British troops could be sent to the Middle East.
“This is not our war and we’re not going to get drawn into it,” he said, adding the UK will continue to take defensive action and work to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“What we did was take defensive action: by keeping our pilots in the air for an hour or two after the start of this war, we defended British lives, British interests and, of course, our allies in the region.”
He added: “But we will not be dragged into this war.”
This comes after Mr. Trump indicated his war against Iran could escalate further as he mulls a military operation to seize Iran’s Kharg Island, a key part of the country’s export infrastructure.
In a report Washington Post Stating over the weekend that the Pentagon was awaiting Mr. Trump’s approval for ground operations, U.S. Central Command confirmed that thousands of U.S. sailors and sailors had departed for the Middle East aboard the USS. Tripoli Battleship on Saturday.
Downing Street said on Monday that Britain was in talks with the US “at all levels” over its war against Iran but would not make a follow-up statement on Washington’s operation.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It is not my place to comment continually on the operations of our allies.”
“As the Prime Minister has done, we will continue to focus on Britain’s national interests, protect people in the region, do all we can to protect households from impact in the UK, and work with international allies.”
The conflict has led to economic instability around the world as Iran continues to block ships from passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Sir Keir will meet energy and business bosses in Downing Street on Monday; Here he is expected to discuss the importance of reopening the key oil route as the government deals with the economic effects of the war.
He will then chair another Cobra meeting on Tuesday and examine how the conflict will affect UK households and businesses.
Sir Keir took the opportunity to criticize his political rival’s response to the war ahead of Monday’s meeting as he launched Labour’s local election campaign.
At the event in Wolverhampton, he said Britain would “go into an unplanned war” if Conservative or Reform UK leaders were in power or would be “weak and exposed” under the Green Party’s Zack Polanski.
The Prime Minister’s decision to refuse to support a US ground operation against Iran came after he faced relentless criticism from Mr Trump.
The US president said Sir Keir was “no Churchill” after the prime minister refused to allow US forces to use British bases for their first strike on Iran.
It has since allowed “defensive and limited” American missions to be carried out from British bases.
Speaking at a televised White House meeting on Thursday last week, Mr Trump again criticized NATO for doing “absolutely nothing” to help the US and targeted Britain’s aircraft carriers.
“They all want to help now. When they disappear, the other side disappears, they said, ‘We would like to send a ship,'” he said.
“We had Britain say ‘we will send’ – this was three weeks ago – ‘we will send our aircraft carriers’, which are not very good aircraft carriers either. They are just toys compared to what we have.”
However, Sir Keir’s refusal to bow under US pressure has boosted his popularity rating, according to JL Partners polling for the T; When voters were reminded of their disagreements with Mr. Trump, that popularity increased by 26 points.o Independent.
