‘Unreliable' UK not told in advance about Israel's attack on Iran
Diplomats said it appeared Israel no longer considered the UK to be a 'reliable partner' after Sir Keir Starmer placed sanctions on two far-right Israeli ministers this week.
Military planners inside the Ministry of Defence were braced for the strikes on Thursday night. However, the UK appeared to have been cut out of the loop on the operation, despite being involved in previous strikes.
• US urges UK to reverse sanctions on far-right Israeli ministers
An emergency Cobra meeting has been held to discuss the threat to British citizens in Iran and Israel. There is an ongoing review of whether the embassy should remain open in Tehran.
The prime minister's spokesman confirmed 'the UK did not participate in Israel's strikes overnight', and MoD sources were quick to dispute any suggestion that the RAF had taken part in any military action to knock out Iranian drones. A senior government source said: 'They've clearly made the calculation [that] we are not a reliable partner.'
David Lammy, the foreign secretary, had been due to travel to Washington DC on Friday, but the meeting was cancelled at the last minute.
The United States said it was not involved in the attack, describing the Israeli action as unilateral, although that is likely to change if US personnel are targeted in the region.
• Israel-Iran latest: further explosions heard at Fordow nuclear site
In April last year, the UK deployed RAF Typhoons to help shoot down drones fired by Iran. The UK was also involved to a more limited extent last October during a ballistic missile attack by Tehran.
On Monday, the government was concerned enough to hold a 'war game', led by Lammy, in which departments played out the possibility of a massive Israeli attack on Iran. Military personnel are understood to have taken part. A military source said the primary concern in London was for the safety of British citizens currently in Tehran, and British citizens in Israel. There are also fears that British shipping could be targeted by the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group in Yemen.
The senior government source said the UK was having to 'walk a diplomatic tight rope' and the priority was the staff in Tehran.
The UK government has hardened its stance on Israel and Starmer said earlier today: 'The reports of these strikes are concerning and we urge all parties to step back and reduce tensions urgently. Escalation serves no one in the region. Stability in the Middle East must be the priority and we are engaging partners to de-escalate. Now is the time for restraint, calm and a return to diplomacy.'
Earlier in the week the far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich were banned from entering the UK and will have any assets in the UK frozen as part of the measures announced by Lammy. The sanctions were imposed over 'repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities' in the occupied West Bank.
Starmer was expected to discuss the attacks with Netanyahu in a call on Friday. A Downing Street spokesman said the UK was prepared to take 'every diplomatic step' to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons.
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