UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer has said he stands by his decision not to join the initial US-Israel strikes on Iran on Saturday, and said talks would be the best way forward.
At a Downing Street News conference on Thursday, the PM said the UK had “the strength to stand by our values and our principles no matter the pressure to do otherwise”.
The UK’s longstanding position was that the best way forward was a “negotiated settlement with Iran where they give up their nuclear ambitions”, he added, saying efforts should be made to “de-escalate” the conflict.
Sir Keir said the conflict could continue for “some time”, as he announced that the UK is sending four additional Typhoon fighter jets to Qatar.
US President Donald Trump has already criticised the Prime Minister for refusing to allow the use of UK bases in the initial strikes, and said he is “not Winston Churchill”.
The UK agreed on Sunday to a US request to use British Military bases but only for defensive strikes on Iranian missile sites.
Trump said the initial decision was “shocking” and that the UK-US relationship was “not what it was”.
But Sir Keir insisted the special relationship between the US and the UK had not been fractured.
(Editor: Ken Eseni)
