Sir Keir Starmer has signalled British support for a US strike on Iran, saying he backs President Trump’s goal of preventing Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Trump warned earlier this week that time was “running out” for Iran to come to the negotiating table over its nuclear weapons programme as the United States continues to build up forces in the region.
Speaking in China, the prime minister said he supported Trump’s move to “deal” with the Iranian regime on both its nuclear programme and the recent crackdown on democracy protesters.
“The goal or the aim here is that Iran shouldn’t be able to develop nuclear weapons. That is hugely important and, of course, we need to deal with the fact they are repressing protesters, killing protesters,” he told the BBC. “It is grotesque, what is happening, so that is where our focus is and we are working with allies to that end.”
• Iran protesters call for shah’s return as US warships arrive
Asked if he was backing strikes, he said: “I am saying we support the goal and we are talking to allies about how we get to that goal.”
His comments came as Trump again warned Iran that he was prepared to take military action unless the country’s government was prepared to come to the table. “I built [up] the military in my first term, and now we have a group headed out to a place called Iran, and hopefully we won’t have to use it,” Trump told reporters at the premiere of a documentary about his wife Melania on Thursday night.
President Trump spoke about his country’s “very big” ships
SAMUEL CORUM/GETTY IMAGES
Asked if he would hold talks with Iran, Trump added: “I have had and I am planning on it. Yes, we have a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now, and it would be great if we didn’t have to use them.”
The Iranian foreign minister said the country was ready to resume nuclear talks with the US but only “on an equal footing”. “If the negotiations are fair and on an equal footing, the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to participate,” Abbas Araghchi said in Istanbul, adding the standard disclaimer that Tehran has “never sought to obtain nuclear weapons”.
But an Iranian military spokesman warned that Tehran’s response to any US action would not be limited, as it was in June last year when US forces briefly joined Israel’s short air campaign against Iran, but would be a decisive response “delivered instantly”.
Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia told state television that US aircraft carriers had “serious vulnerabilities” and that numerous American bases in the Gulf region were “within the range of our medium-range missiles”.
“If such a miscalculation is made by the Americans, it will certainly not unfold the way Trump imagines — carrying out a quick operation and then, two hours later, tweeting that the operation is over,” he said.
Banners in Tehran suggested the US would “reap the whirlwind” if it attacked Iran …
FATEMEH BAHRAMI/ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES
… while others warn of casualties to US and Israeli troops
ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH/EPA
An official in the Gulf, where states host US military sites, told AFP that fears of a US strike on Iran were “very clear”. “It would bring the region into chaos. It would hurt the economy not just in the region but in the US and cause oil and gas prices to skyrocket,” the official added.
The Qatari emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, andPresident Pezeshkian of Iran held a call to discuss “efforts being made to de-escalate tensions and establish stability”.
Protests in Iran have been brutally suppressed
WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY/REUTERS
The European Union increased the pressure on Thursday by designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a “terrorist organisation” following a deadly crackdown on recent mass protests.
Welcoming what she called the “overdue” decision, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said: “‘Terrorist’ is indeed how you call a regime that crushes its own people’s protests in blood.”