The UK already has jets in the region as part of its Operation Shader contribution but more military assets, described by Keir Starmer as ‘contingency support’, are being deployed
Keir Starmer revealed tonight extra British military assets, including Typhoon fighter jets, will be deployed to the Middle East as fears grow over an all-out war in the region.
The Prime Minister described the assets as “contingency support” and it is understood aircraft began deployment preparations on Friday. The UK already has jets in the region as part of its Operation Shader contribution. The PM also urged the Iranian regime and Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli government to de-escalate and pull back from the brink as he flew to the G7 in Canada. It came as Iranian missiles rained down on Tel Aviv in response to the Israeli government’s assault on military and nuclear targets in Tehran.
The country also warned the UK, US and France against stopping its strikes on Israel – or face their own bases and ships in the region being targeted. Speaking to reporters, the Prime Minister said: “I will always make the right decisions for the UK and our allies.
“We are moving assets to the region, including jets, and that is for contingency support in the region. I will be clear-eyed in relation to our duties and obligations and my duties as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.” Pressed on whether the assets in the region would be involved in defending Israel, the PM told reporters he would not “get into operational issues”.
“We’re having ongoing discussions with our allies all of the time, both myself and David Lammy, as you’ve seen, who also spoke to the Iranians, as I think is a matter of record now,” he said. “Our constant message is to de-escalate, and therefore everything we’re doing, all discussions we’re having are to do with de-escalation.
“In relation to Israel, I had a good and constructive discussion with the Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday, and that included discussions about the safety and security of Israel, as you would expect, between two allies.” The PM added: “We do have long-standing concerns about the nuclear programme Iran has.
“We do recognize Israel’s right to self defence, but I’m absolutely clear that this needs to de-escalate. There is a huge risk of escalation for the region. More widely in terms of conflict, you can see the impact already on the economy and oil prices.
“And of course, all of this is linked to what’s going on in Gaza. So you can see why my strong position is this needs to de-escalate, and that is the primary focus of the discussions that I’ve been having and will continue to be.” Mr Starmer also refused to say whether the UK had been given advanced notice of Israel’s strike.
He said: “I’m not going to go into what information we had at the time or since. But we discuss these things intensely with our allies. But I’m not going to get into precisely what we knew, because it’s a constant flow of information between our allies, and between us and the US. I’m not going to start answering what goes around on intelligence channels.”