Starmer says US action ‘helped alleviate threat of nuclear capability' in Iran
The Prime Minister said the US had helped in 'alleviating' the threat of nuclear capability for Tehran following American strikes on suspected enrichment facilities in the country.
Ministers have so far been at pains to stress Britain was not involved in the attacks, but Sir Keir on Tuesday gave his backing to Washington's course of action as he prepared to meet the US president at a major summit of Nato allies.
Asked on his visit to The Hague whether he personally felt safe with Mr Trump in the White House, the Prime Minister told Channel 5 News: 'Look, I think what we've seen over the last few days is the Americans alleviating a threat to nuclear weaponry by the Iranians and bringing about a ceasefire in the early hours of today.
'I think now what needs to happen is that ceasefire needs to be maintained, and that will be the focus of our attention, our engagement, our discussions, because that ceasefire provides the space for the negotiations that need to take place.
'It will have to be negotiations … to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon capability and that is very important for safety and security, not just in the region, but more widely.'
The two warring nations had signed up to a ceasefire deal proposed by the US president before Israel claimed Iran had violated the deal by carrying out missile strikes after it came into force.
Iran's military chiefs denied this, but faced a fresh onslaught ordered by the Israeli defence minister Israel Katz.
Mr Trump called for Israel to withdraw its warplanes, and claimed both it and Iran 'don't know what the f*** they're doing' as he departed for the Nato summit in the Netherlands.
The Prime Minister will meet Donald Trump at the Nato summit in The Hague (Suzanne Plunkett/PA)
As he arrived for the meeting of military allies, Sir Keir meanwhile called for the ceasefire to be respected.
He told reporters: 'I want the ceasefire to continue, and therefore, obviously, the sooner we get back to that the better, and that's the message that I'm discussing with other leaders today.
'We've got a ceasefire. We need to get back to that ceasefire, which is consistent with what I've been saying about de-escalation for quite some time now.'
Downing Street said the UK was prioritising getting Iran back to talks to agree a lasting settlement.
'Our priority now is a diplomatic solution, which is why the Prime Minister has urged Iran to come back to the negotiating table in pursuit of a lasting settlement,' a No 10 spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump reportedly told journalists that 'it depends on your definition' of Nato's Article Five when asked if he supports the provision, which states that an attack against one member of the alliance is considered an attack against all.
'There's numerous definitions of Article Five. You know that, right?' he told reporters on board Air Force One.
In the House of Commons, a minister meanwhile announced that a second evacuation flight has been arranged for Britons in Israel.
Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer told MPs the first RAF flight took place on Monday 'and I can confirm to the House now that we will fly another today'.
He added: 'We are providing support and advice to more than 1,000 British nationals as they seek to leave the region by land and air.
'We have deployed teams to Israel, Cyprus, Egypt and Jordan.'
The British embassy in Tehran, the capital of Iran, has temporarily withdrawn its staff amid the ongoing crisis, Mr Falconer also told MPs.
The embassy is however still operating remotely and 'continues to provide support for British nationals in Iran', he said.
Both Iran and Israel had agreed to the ceasefire in the early hours of Tuesday morning, after Mr Trump announced they would both sign up to the plan.
Israeli soldiers work amid the rubble of residential buildings destroyed by an Iranian missile strike that killed several people in Beersheba, Israel (Bernat Armangue/AP)
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned his country would 'respond forcefully' if any violation of the agreement was discovered.
Accusations of one soon followed, with the Israeli military claiming Iran fired off missiles several hours after the deal came into force.
Israel then responded by ordering further strikes against Iran.
'ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!' Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social, the social media site he owns.
The US president appeared angry that his peace proposal had not held as he spoke with reporters outside the White House ahead of his departure for the Netherlands.
'They violated it but Israel violated it too,' the US president said, adding: 'I'm not happy with Israel.'
He also said: 'You basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f*** they are doing, do you understand that?'
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Western Telegraph
28 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Starmer: No tax rises on working people to reach 5% defence spending pledge
The Prime Minister is meeting leaders of other Nato member countries in The Hague, where they are expected to formally agree the target, made up of 3.5% on 'core defence' and another 1.5% on 'resilience and security'. He rejected that tax rises would be needed to pay for higher defence spending. 'Every time we've set out our defence spending commitments, so when we went to 2.5% in 2027/28, we set out precisely how we would pay for it, that didn't involve tax rises. 'Clearly we've got commitments in our manifesto about not making tax rises on working people and we will stick to our manifesto commitments,' the Prime Minister told reporters in the Netherlands. Sir Keir Starmer said tax rises would not be needed to pay for higher defence spending (Kin Cheung/PA) He said the current commitment to get defence spending up to 2.5% of GDP by 2027/8 was not coming at the expense of welfare, but rather from cuts to overseas development aid. 'So, it's a misdescription to suggest that the defence spending commitment we've made is at the expense of money on welfare.' Donald Trump is among the world leaders at the summit, and told reporters on the way to the Netherlands that it would depend 'on your definition' when asked if he would commit to Nato's Article 5, which requires members to defend each other from attack. At a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, Sir Keir underscored that national security is the 'first duty' of Government. His trip comes as the Government publishes its national security strategy, setting out plans to make the UK 'more resilient to future threats'. Downing Street has described the 5% goal as 'a projected target' that allies will review in 2029 when Nato carries out its next capability assessment. It is a significant jump from the current 2% Nato target, and from the UK Government's aim of spending 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence from 2027 and 3% at some point after the next election. But the figure is in line with the demands of US President Donald Trump, who has called for Nato allies to shoulder more of the burden of European defence. The Government expects to spend 1.5% of GDP on resilience and security by 2027. The Prime Minister is meeting leaders of other Nato member countries in The Hague (Ben Stansall/PA) The details of what counts towards that target are due to be set out during this week's summit, but it is likely to include spending on energy and border security as well as intelligence agencies. But increasing core defence spending to 3.5% will not happen until 2035, with at least two elections likely to take place before then. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that an increase in core defence spending from 2.6% to 3.5% would cost around £30 billion more a year. It noted however that the plans concern spending far in the future – due in 10 years' time – and therefore may not affect the Government's spending review or autumn budget decisions, but prompt the chancellor to revise plans at the 2027 spending review. Spending 3.5% of national income on defence is 'certainly not unprecedented' but much more is now spent on health than in the past, IFS researcher Bee Boileau noted. Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said the Government had not been clear enough about how it would reach the core defence spending goal, claiming ministers had only offered 'smoke and mirrors'. She added: 'So, when will he actually deliver a plan to get to 2%, and why won't he heed our calls to hit 3% by the end of this Parliament, which would be vital, and a vital stepping stone on the way to that higher defence spending that he is seeking.' The Nato gathering comes amid the backdrop of escalating Middle East tensions and the ongoing war in Ukraine. Sir Keir has urged Israel and Iran to get back to the fragile ceasefire brokered by Donald Trump. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at 10 Downing Street (Jeff Moore/PA) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to attend the summit, but not take part in the main discussions of the North Atlantic Council. Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte described the move to spend more on defence as a 'quantum leap' that would make the organisation 'a stronger, a fairer and a more lethal alliance'. But it was reported on Sunday that Spain had reached a deal that would see it exempted from the 5% target. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that Spain would be able to keep its commitments to the 32-nation military alliance by spending 2.1% of GDP on defence needs.
Telegraph
28 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The 12-day war that shook the world
Benjamin Netanyahu knew full well he was about to embark on a legacy-defining operation. He had anticipated this moment for more than three decades, ever since his days as a Knesset backbencher in 1992 – the first time he gave warning that Iran was just years away from building a nuclear bomb. Over 17 years in office, Israel's longest-serving prime minister had repeatedly come close to ordering military action against Iran. But each time, he pulled back, under pressure from the United States, his generals, or perhaps even his own nerves. This time would be different. Military campaigns over the previous 18 months had severely degraded Tehran's regional proxies – Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Even Mr Netanyahu's most cautious generals agreed: there would never be a better moment to strike. Only one major obstacle remained – the White House. Donald Trump's re-election had sparked jubilation among Mr Netanyahu's supporters, who believed there was no greater friend of Israel. Yet Mr Trump was proving unexpectedly obdurate. In April, Mr Netanyahu presented the president with a detailed plan for military action. Mr Trump vetoed it. He wanted to give diplomacy another chance, and dispatched Steve Witkoff, his Middle East envoy and golfing buddy, to talk to the Iranians. Israeli officials held their counsel in public. In private, they were aghast. Rumours of a rift began to swirl. Israel no longer appeared central to Washington's Middle East strategy as Mr Trump toured the Gulf but skipped Jerusalem. Still, Mr Netanyahu kept working on the president, reminding him how Iran had plotted to assassinate him, building the case for war. Meanwhile, Mr Trump's patience was wearing thin with Iran, which appeared to be stalling for time. By late May, US intelligence agencies concluded that Mr Netanyahu had decided to seize the initiative. In a classified assessment shared with the White House, they warned that Israel was planning to strike Iran's nuclear programme imminently – with or without US support. President Trump frantically called Mr Netanyahu to dissuade him, according to the New York Times. But this time, it was the once risk-averse Israeli leader who would not be moved. As Mr Trump deliberated with his top military advisors, Mr Netanyahu gave the order. On Monday June 9, he told his military chiefs to proceed. The following day, he phoned Mr Trump. The president did not endorse the operation – but, unlike in April, he said he would no longer stand in Israel's way. The US began evacuating its embassies in the Gulf. Britain warned commercial shipping to exercise caution. Pentagon pizza orders soared. Launch day Late that night, nearly 200 aircraft – mostly F-35 stealth fighters and F-16s – took off from bases in southern Israel, flying through Jordanian and Syrian airspace. Just after midnight on Friday June 13, they struck more than 100 targets inside Iran. 'Operation Rising Lion', one of the most anticipated campaigns in the history of modern warfare, was underway. Israeli jets hit Iranian missile factories, air defence systems, military bases, and the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, 135 miles south-east of Tehran. But this was more than just an air campaign. A breathtaking covert intelligence operation was unfolding in tandem. Months earlier, Mossad agents had infiltrated deep into Iran, establishing a concealed drone base near Tehran. For weeks, operatives had smuggled in explosives and commercial quadcopter drones hidden in false-bottomed suitcases and civilian vehicles. As Israeli aircraft approached Iranian airspace, the teams launched their drones, targeting missile launchers and air defence batteries – an operation echoing Ukraine's recent 'Spider's Web' attack on Russia's strategic bomber fleet. The combined assault devastated both Iran's ability to defend itself and to strike back. Simultaneously, a mass-assassination campaign involving drones, airstrikes and sabotage, was underway, aiming to decapitate Iran's nuclear and military leadership. Within hours, four of Iran's most senior generals were dead, including Hossein Salami, commander of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Mohammed Bagheri, the armed forces chief. So, too, were many top nuclear scientists. Believing Israel would delay its strike until after another round of talks in Oman, they had remained in their homes, rather than retreating to designated underground bunkers. Most were killed in their beds – victims of a separate covert mission reportedly codenamed 'Operation Narnia'. Within days, as many as 20 senior military officers and 14 nuclear scientists were confirmed dead. Those who survived received chilling telephone calls from Persian-speaking Mossad agents. 'I can advise you now, you have 12 hours to escape with your wife and child. Otherwise you're on the list right now,' one spy told a senior general in a recording obtained by the Washington Post. 'We're closer to you than your own neck vein. Put this in your head. May God protect you.' Back in Jerusalem, Benjamin Netanyahu was jubilant. 'We are at a decisive moment in Israel's history,' he said in a national address. 'This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.' Iran strikes back Over the next few days, Israel hit further nuclear sites. Explosions rocked Tehran, a city of ten million people, killing more than 600 civilians, according to official figures. One missile struck state television, shattering windows as the on-air anchor denounced Israeli aggression. She fled mid-broadcast. As cars exploded mysteriously and attacks on energy infrastructure plunged parts of the capital into darkness, residents began to flee, choking motorways in hours-long traffic jams. With fuel rationed, many were stranded. Suitcase-clutching families stood on the roadside, pleading for taxis. Meanwhile, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was in hiding, issuing defiant recorded statements from an undisclosed location. Mr Netanyahu had proposed assassinating him. Mr Trump vetoed the plan to kill him – but was otherwise deeply impressed by the scale and success of Israel's offensive. He began to consider whether the US should help finish the job by targeting Fordow, Iran's most fortified uranium-enrichment facility, buried deep inside a mountain. Iran, meanwhile, was fighting back – but in a more limited fashion than many had feared. For years, military analysts had warned that any attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would trigger region-wide retaliation: attacks on Israel for sure, but also on US bases in the Middle East, energy infrastructure and cities in the Gulf, even shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. But Tehran, wary of bringing the US directly into the conflict, concentrated its fire on Israel. Ballistic missiles rained down on cities including Tel Aviv and Haifa. Israel's multi-tiered air defences intercepted approximately 85 per cent of Iran's missiles. Some were always expected to get through, but the interception rate fell short of best-case projections, perhaps reflecting Iranian advances in countermeasures –ranging from more manoeuvrable re-entry vehicles and decoy warheads, to electronic jamming designed to confuse radar and disrupt missile tracking systems. The warheads that did penetrate – including one that struck a tower block near the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv – landed with such force, and caused such extensive damage, that they sparked widespread consternation. Many Israelis had believed their air defences were so sophisticated they would fend off everything Iran had to throw at them. The attacks killed 28 people, injured more than 1,300, levelled apartment blocks, knocked out an oil refinery, and damaged a major hospital in the southern city of Beersheba. Israelis rushed to bomb shelters every few hours. Yet the damage fell far short of earlier projections. In 2011, Israeli generals estimated that war with Iran could kill more than 10,000 Israeli civilians. That toll never materialised. With Hezbollah unwilling to join the fight and Hamas degraded, Iran was left to rely on its 2,000-3,000 stockpile of ballistic missiles. Iran reportedly planned to launch 1,000 on the first night of retaliation, hoping to overwhelm Israel's defences. But so many of its launchers had been destroyed that fewer than 200 were fired. In subsequent nights, barrages fell to around 30 a night. The US joins the war Back in Washington, Mr Trump faced a dilemma. Just weeks earlier, in Riyadh, he had condemned US military entanglements in the region. He would never intervene in a Middle Eastern war, he vowed, and pledged to work towards a diplomatic solution with Iran. He even played his Saudi hosts a video of Ali Shamkhani, Khamenei's top nuclear advisor, proposing a new deal – evidence, he claimed, of Iran's sincerity. Yet Mr Shamkhani was now fighting for his life in a Tehran hospital after Israel had tried to kill him, and president Trump's diplomatic outreach lay in ruins. The case for US intervention was also growing. Israel had performed better on the battlefield than even the most optimistic assessments. Yet only America's 30,000 lb, bunker-busting Massive Ordnance Penetrator had a real chance of destroying Fordow. At the G7 summit in Canada last week, Western leaders believed Mr Trump remained committed to diplomacy. But on Monday June 16, he abruptly left the summit and began issuing stark ultimatums, demanding the regime's 'unconditional surrender' and warning Khamenei that the US knew where he was hiding. By then, the decision had already been made. In the early hours of Sunday morning, Mr Trump gave the final go-ahead. Operation Midnight Hammer was underway. Concerned that the president's increasingly bellicose public pronouncements might alert Iran to an impending strike, US military strategists devised a ruse to try to throw Iran off the scent. Two groups of B-2 stealth bombers departed simultaneously from the Whiteman Airbase in Missouri. One headed west over the Pacific with its transponders switched – allowing it to be tracked by commercial satellite services. It quickly garnered international attention. But it was a decoy. The real strike force, a formation of seven B-2s, flew unnoticed across the Atlantic, their transponders off. Escorted by a fleet of fourth-and-fifth fighter jets, they crossed into Iranian airspace undetected. Moments later, they dropped 12 bunker-busters on Fordow and another two on Natanz. A converted Ohio-class submarine in the Arabian Sea fired 30 Tomahawk missiles at Natanz and a nuclear complex near the ancient city of Isfahan. Mr Trump quickly declared victory: Iran's nuclear programme had been ' completely and utterly obliterated '. Satellite images of Fordow soon emerged, showing precise strike points at tunnel entrances and ventilation shafts – the site's most vulnerable spots struck by the bombs, whose reinforced steel alloy casings allowed them to burrow into the rock before detonating more than 100 feet below the surface. Each B-2 dropped two bombs in succession on the same coordinates, a tactic designed to maximise damage and increase the likelihood of reaching Fordow's deeply buried centrifuge halls. But while the imagery confirmed where the bombs had landed, it revealed little about the extent of the internal damage. Earlier satellite photos showing convoys of trucks leaving the site in the days before the attacks suggest that Iran may have removed stockpiles of highly enriched uranium and other sensitive equipment in anticipation. Iran retaliates and path to peace After the strikes, the region held its breath. Would Iran escalate or was it too damaged to continue. For 36 hours there was silence. Then, on Monday evening, Western embassies in Qatar issued urgent warnings to their citizens to 'shelter in place'. The Gulf kingdom closed its airspace. Iran's retaliation was on its way in the form of 14 missiles – one for each bunker-buster dropped – aimed at Al Udeid, the largest US airbase in the Middle East. But the airbase had been evacuated. Iran had quietly passed warnings through intermediaries, giving the US time to pull personnel and Qatar to activate its air defences. All 14 missiles were intercepted. Iran's retaliation, a show purely for domestic consumption, was over. Iran's promises to 'shock and awe' its enemies once again fell short. Tehran's message was received and understood in the White House. Mr Trump wanted out, too, anxious to avoid entanglement in the kind of 'forever war' he had once campaigned against. He announced a 'complete and total' ceasefire, congratulating both sides for their 'stamina, courage and intelligence' to end what he dubbed 'the 12-day war'. Each side would remain 'peaceful' and 'respectful', he insisted, before boarding Air Force One bound for a Nato summit at The Hague. Yet the ceasefire quickly came under strain. Hours later, Israel struck an Iranian radar after accusing Tehran of firing three missiles in breach of the truce. There are reasons for both sides to stop fighting. Iran's military is reeling, its leadership tottering. It may well prefer to live to fight another day. Israel, having reportedly struck most of the targets on its initial list, may well have been about to declare victory anyway. And Mr Netanyahu may prefer not to defy president Trump. The ceasefire may therefore hold. Whether a long-term peace proves durable depends on a single question: how badly has Iran's nuclear programme been hurt? It is a question no-one can yet answer. Humiliated and weakened, Iran may decide it needs a nuclear bomb more than ever. If it still has the capacity, it may now race to build one. The first phase of Israel's confrontation with Iran may be over. But greater trouble could lie ahead.
Telegraph
28 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Alligator Alcatraz: ICE to detain migrants in middle of remote Florida swamp
In the fight to secure the US border, immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) has deployed an unexpected new line of defence. Construction has begun on an 1,000-bed detention centre for undocumented migrants in the middle of the Florida everglades national park that state officials have nicknamed 'Alligator Alcatraz'. The facility, built on the site of an abandoned runway, is designed to temporarily house migrants and has drawn comparisons to the infamous island prison because of the thousands of alligators and pythons living in the flooded grasslands that surround it. The detention centre is the brainchild of James Uthmeier, the state attorney general and Trump ally who last week shared a video suggesting the area's dangerous wildlife will function as natural security. 'Alligator Alcatraz: the one-stop shop to carry out president Trump's mass deportation agenda,' Mr Uthmeier said. 'People get out, there's not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons. Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.' Alligator Alcatraz: the one-stop shop to carry out President Trump's mass deportation agenda. — Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) June 19, 2025 Located at Dade-Collier training and transition airport, a former landing strip west of Miami, the 39-square-mile-square Everglades detention centre is one of several major new sites in Florida designed to house upwards of 5,000 detainees, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Touted as a 'cost-effective' way to support mass deportations, the new site follows proposals by the Trump administration to reopen the original Alcatraz prison in San Francisco and efforts to send illegal migrants to Guantanamo Bay. Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said the facility will be funded in large part by the federal emergency management agency's shelter and services programme, which is designed to provide emergency housing for undocumented migrants. According to The Hill, a temporary site could open within days, while the facility is projected to cost around $450m a year once it is fully operational. Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, has backed the project, with his office releasing a statement saying he 'will facilitate the federal government in enforcing immigration law'. 'Florida will continue to lead on immigration enforcement,' a spokesman for Mr DeSantis said. The new facility has drawn the ire of immigrant rights groups and environmentalists, who reacted furiously to the prospect of large tents being pitched in one of the country's most prized areas of natural beauty. The national park is home to dozens of threatened species including manatees, American crocodiles, American flamingo and wood storks. On Sunday, more than 300 protesters flocked to the Everglades to demonstrate against the new centre. The decision to build the site comes after the Trump administration's efforts to send migrants to Guantanamo Bay and to a migrant detention centre in Texas were thwarted. A contract for a vast tent city at the Fort Bliss military base in Texas was terminated in April, while courts have blocked attempts to send undocumented migrants to the Guantanamo military base in Cuba. In March, Mr Trump proposed reopening the original Alcatraz prison located in San Francisco bay in order to deter 'vicious' criminals. Addressing plans to build a detention centre in Florida, Ms Noem said: 'Under president Trump's leadership, we are working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people's mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens. 'We will expand facilities and bed space in just days, thanks to our partnership with Florida.'
