British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday that his country has accepted a US request to use British bases for defensive strikes against Iranian missiles in storage depots or launchers.
"The United States has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose. We have decided to accept this request to prevent Iran from firing missiles across the region," he said in a video messageon strikes.
But he said Iran had retaliated by launching sustained attacks across the region and its missiles had hit airports and hotels where British citizens were staying.
“Our decision that the UK would not be involved with the strikes on Iran was deliberate, not least because we believe that the best way forward for the region and for the world is a negotiated settlement, one in which Iran agrees to give up any aspirations to develop a nuclear weapon,” he said."But Iran is striking British interests nonetheless, and putting British people at huge risk."Britain's partners in the Gulf had asked it to do more to defend them, he said, and it was his duty to protect British lives.
British fighterjets were already taking part in coordinated defensive operations and had intercepted Iranian strikes, he said, but the only way to stop the threat was to destroy the missiles at their source in storage depots or launchers.
Accepting the US request, therefore, was based on the "collective self-defense of long-standing friends and allies and protecting British lives" in accordance with international law, he said.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
