British troops are being held at very high readiness in the UK to respond to the escalating conflict in the Middle East if needed, Western officials have said, as they warned that the war “could go on for some time”.
It comes as US bombers are expected to arrive at British bases – including Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford – within days.
The two airbases were initially denied to the US for their strikes against the Iranian regime, sparking the ire of Donald Trump who said he was “not happy with the UK” over the extent of its support.
While it is understood there are no immediate plans to increase the footprints in Cyprus with British ground troops, they are always held on high alert in the UK in order to respond to a crisis.
In a briefing, western officials also refused to rule out participating in future strikes against Iranian ballistic missile launch sites.
“I wouldn’t rule anything out at all because we just don’t know what will happen day to day, week to week as this progresses,” one official said.
Cobra meetings are being held on a daily basis to respond to the crisis, it is understood, as officials warned that the Armed Forces are facing a “difficult tactical and operational problem” following Iran’s “reckless, haphazard and hugely escalatory” response.
Western officials said the situation in the Middle East is developing “almost every hour and could go on for some time”, adding that they are preparing to “settle in” and make sure they are ready to protect British interests in “not just short term, but the medium term as well”.
The UK is also preparing to send a warship to protect a British base in Cyprus which was struck by a drone earlier this week.
But officials confirmed that HMS Dragon – which is undergoing maintenance before being loaded with ammunition in Portsmouth – will not set sail until next week.
They would not specify where the drone which struck RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus had come from, but said assessments showed it was a Shahed type and had not been launched from Iran.
Asked by journalists why there was no Type 45 destroyer sent to the region months ago during a US military build-up, they said increasingly fragile geopolitics with many different security threats made the situation complex.
HMS Dragon was chosen because it was the readiest for the mission, officials said.
Meanwhile, Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters armed with Martlet drone-busting missiles are being deployed within days, before the warship, to bolster defence in the region, they said.
The Type 45 air defence destroyer is intended to strengthen protection against drones and missiles launched by Iran and its proxies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The destroyer’s voyage from Portsmouth to Cyprus is expected to take several days.
The US president has been heavily critical of the UK’s response to the war in the Middle East, on Tuesday saying he is “very sad” to see that the special relationship is “obviously not what it was”.
The prime minister granted permission on Sunday for the US to use UK bases to target Iran’s missile launchers and stores to help protect countries targeted by Tehran.
But the US president said he was “very disappointed” with Sir Keir over his initial refusal to allow the US to use the UK-US Diego Garcia base on the Chagos Islands as part of the operation.
He added that it “took far too long” for the prime minister to change his mind.
Hitting out at Sir Keir directly, the US president said: “He has not been helpful. I never thought I’d see that. I never thought I’d see that from the UK. We love the UK.”
