The British government gave authorisation on Friday (20 March) for the U.S. to use military bases in Britain to carry out strikes on Iranian missile sites that are attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
British ministers met on Friday to discuss the war with Iran and Iran's blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, according to a Downing Street statement.
"They confirmed that the agreement for the U.S. to use UK bases in the collective self-defence of the region includes U.S. defensive operations to degrade the missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz," the statement said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X that Starmer was "putting British lives in danger by allowing UK bases to be used for aggression against Iran."
Starmer said this week Britain would not be drawn into a war over Iran. He initially rejected a U.S. request to use British bases for the strikes on Iran, saying he needed to be satisfied that any military action was legal.
But the prime minister modified his stance after Iran conducted strikes on British allies across the Middle East, saying that the United States could use RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia, a joint U.S.-UK base in the Indian Ocean.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked Starmer since the conflict started, he was not doing enough to support the U.S.
On Monday, Trump said there were "some countries that greatly disappointed me" before he singled out Britain, which he said had once been considered "the Rolls-Royce of allies".
The Downing Street statement on Friday called for "urgent de-escalation and a swift resolution to the war".
Opinion polls in Britain suggest widespread scepticism about the war, with 59% of those surveyed by YouGov saying that they oppose the U.S.-Israeli attacks.
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Hundreds of flights have been cancelled or rerouted at Catania Airport over the past week as ash from Mount Etna’s ongoing eruption continues to disrupt air travel in Sicily.
Wildfires across England and Wales have reached their highest level on record, according to the National Fire Chiefs Council, as firefighters struggle to contain outbreaks following a spell of extreme heat.
The U.S. will impose unprecedented measures on Iran in order to economically isolate the country, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said.
U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to make the Strait of Hormuz part of U.S. territory have been mocked by Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, who said the sea passage "cannot be seized by tweet."
At least 47 people have been killed after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off eastern Indonesia early on Saturday, triggering small tsunami waves and dozens of aftershocks, officials say.
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The Qatar Football Association (QFA) has criticised the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for issuing a joint statement on FIFA governance without consulting its member associations, calling for greater transparency.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised deepening ties with North Korea, saying Moscow and Pyongyang are coordinating their efforts to ensure “regional security and stability”.
Russia and Ukraine traded large-scale overnight attacks targeting energy, industrial and military facilities on Saturday, with a three-month-old baby killed and 11 people injured in a Russian drone strike on a residential building in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region.
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