Sir Keir Starmer has ruled out putting British troops on the ground in Iran, as he insisted the UK will not be “dragged in” to Donald Trump’s escalating war in the region.
The US sparked fears over the weekend that it is preparing launch ground operations in Iran, as fighting between Tehran and Washington continues into its second month.
The prime minister has faced criticism from both allies and enemies over his approach to the conflict, but doubled down on his position on Monday when asked if 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 have done is taken defensive action: so we’ve had our pilots up in the air since an hour or two after this war started, defending British lives, British interests and, of course, our allies in the region.”
He added: “But we are not going to get dragged into this war.”
It comes after Mr Trump indicated his war on Iran could further escalate, as he mulls over a military operation to seize Iran’s Kharg Island, a crucial part of the country’s export infrastructure.
A report in the Washington Post over the weekend stated that the Pentagon is awaiting Mr Trump’s approval for ground operations, as US Central Command confirmed thousands of US sailors and marines had moved to the Middle East aboard the USS Tripoli warship on Saturday.
Downing Street said on Monday that the UK is in discussions with US at “every level” over its war on Iran, but said it would not provide an ongoing narrative on Washington’s operation.
“It’s not for me to provide running commentary on our allies’ operations,” the prime minister’s official spokesperson said.
“We will continue to focus, as the prime minister has done, on British national interests, protecting people in the region, doing what we can to protect households from the impact here in the UK, and working with international allies.”
The conflict has sparked economic instability around the globe, as Iran continues continues to block ships from passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Sir Keir will meet energy and business bosses in Downing Street on Monday, where his is expected to discuss the importance of reopening the key oil route as the government grapples with the economic fallout of the war.
He will then chair another Cobra meeting on Tuesday, to look at how the conflict will impact households and businesses across Britain.
Sir Keir took the opportunity to criticise his political opponent’s response to the war ahead of his meeting on Monday as he launched Labour’s local election campaign.
He told the event in Wolverhampton that Britain would “be in a war with no plan” if the Conservative or Reform UK leaders were in charge, or “weak and exposed” under the Green Party’s Zack Polanski.
The prime minister’s decision to rule out backing a US ground campaign in Iran comes after he has 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 initial attacks on Iran.
He has since allowed “defensive and limited” American missions to take place from British bases.
Speaking at a televised White House meeting on Thursday last week, Mr Trump lashed out again at Nato for doing “absolutely nothing” to help the US, and took aim at the UK’s aircraft carriers.
“Now they all want to help. When they’re annihilated, the other side is annihilated, they said, ‘we’d love to send ships’,” he sai.d
“We had the UK say that ‘we’ll send’ – this is three weeks ago – ‘we’ll send our aircraft carriers’, which aren’t the best aircraft carriers, by the way. They’re toys compared to what we have.”
However, Sir Keir’s refusal to bow under US pressure has proved to boost his popularity rating, which was found to increase by 26 points when voters are reminded of his fallout with Mr Trump, according to a JL Partners survey for The Independent.
