Rachel Reeves has hit out at the \u201cfolly\u201d of Donald Trump\u2019s decision to go to war against Iran without a clear exit plan.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Mirror<\/a> before a trip to Washington for the International Monetary Fund spring meeting, the UK chancellor renewed her criticism of the war, which has pushed up oil prices and threatens a new jump in inflation across the west.<\/p>\n She was speaking after a turbulent few days in which the US and Iran abandoned peace talks in Islamabad<\/a> without a deal and the US officially started a blockade of Iranian ports<\/a> on the strait of Hormuz, through which Iranian oil ships have been passing in recent weeks.<\/p>\n Reeves said: \u201cThis is a war that we did not start. It was a war that we did not want. I feel very frustrated and angry that the US went into this war without a clear exit plan, without a clear idea of what they were trying to achieve. And as a result the strait of Hormuz is now blocked.\u201d<\/p>\n She added: \u201cObviously no sensible person is a supporter of the Iranian regime but to start a conflict without being clear what the objectives are and not being clear about how you are going to get out of it, I do think that is a folly and it is one that is affecting families here in the UK but also families in the US and around the world.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it was the right decision. But it was absolutely the right decision for Keir Starmer \u2013 our prime minister \u2013 to keep us out of this conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n While Reeves has previously expressed her frustrations about the war, her comments on Tuesday go further than anything either she or the prime minister had previously publicly said.<\/p>\n Starmer told the Commons on Monday: \u201cMy decision has been very clearly that whatever the pressure \u2013 and there\u2019s been some considerable pressure \u2013 we\u2019re not getting dragged into the war.\u201d<\/p>\n Reeves was speaking before the IMF meeting, where foreign ministers from around the world will talk about the economic fallout from the Iran war. The fund published a new set of forecasts<\/a> on Tuesday afternoon showing the UK would suffer the biggest economic impact of any G7 country, with GDP expected to rise by just 0.8% this year rather than 1.3% as previously forecast.<\/p>\n