A government minister has insisted that Britain is “absolutely right” to allow the US to use British bases to defend British interests in the Middle East, after Iran issued a warning to the UK.
Iran’s foreign minister told a UK foreign minister that providing military bases for the US will be considered participation in “aggression” amid the ongoing war in the region.
Asked about the comments, environment secretary Emma Reynolds told Sky News the government is “absolutely right to protect and defend” the 300,000 British nationals currently in the Middle East.
“We haven’t been dragged into this war, and we do want to see a de-escalation of this conflict.”
“But we are also right not to be an active participant,” she said.
“For example, we were called on to provide basis for offensive attacks in Iran and the prime minister refused to allow UK bases to be [used] on that basis.
“We haven’t been dragged into this war, and we do want to see a de-escalation of this conflict.”
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