The UK government is allowing American forces to use British air bases for attacks on Iran, with officials saying the bases could now be used for operations in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
On Friday, Downing Street said officials had “approved an expansion of the targets to help protect ships in the strait,” according to the BBC, adding that the decision was an act of “collective self-defence.”
While London had previously allowed Washington to use RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for “defensive operations” that stopped Iranian missiles from striking British interests, the latest move is aimed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the global oil supply passes each year. Tehran has effectively closed the strait to US and allied vessels in retaliation for the American-Israeli bombing campaign launched late last month.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi slammed the decision, saying UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was “putting British lives in danger.”
“[The] vast majority of the British People do not want any part in the Israel-US war of choice on Iran,” the FM wrote on X. “Ignoring his own People, Mr. Starmer is putting British lives in danger by allowing UK bases to be used for aggression against Iran. Iran will exercise its right to self-defense.”
US President Donald Trump was also critical of London for failing to grant permission sooner, saying “they should have acted a lot faster.”
Trump has sent mixed messages on the conflict in recent days, even suggesting the bombing campaign could soon end in a Truth Social post earlier on Friday.
“We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great military efforts in the Middle East with respect to the Terrorist Regime of Iran,” the president wrote.
However, he went on to state that the Strait of Hormuz would have to be “guarded and policed, as necessary, by other nations who use it,” leaving it unclear whether that condition would be met anytime soon.
Despite hinting at an end to the hostilities, Trump ordered another major deployment to the Middle East earlier on Friday, sending 2,200 soldiers from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, as well as an amphibious assault ship, the USS Boxer.
While the US Navy described the deployment as a “routine training” mission, the order comes just days after another 5,000 Marines and sailors were sent to the region on board a group of amphibious assault ships.
Though British officials have insisted that UK forces would not directly participate in the war with Iran despite the widened permissions for air bases, UK lawmakers were critical of the latter decision. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch called the move the “mother of all U-turns,” while Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Calum Miller warned that the United Kingdom was “being drawn further and further down Trump’s slippery slope.”
Will Porter is assistant news editor and book editor at the Libertarian Institute, and a regular contributor at Antiwar.com. Find more of his work at Consortium News and ZeroHedge.
