Sir Keir Starmer has denied Iranian claims that attacks on its civilians are being launched from RAF bases.
The Prime Minister insisted he has only given US bombers permission to take off from Fairford in Gloucestershire and Diego Garcia in the Chagos islands for ‘collective self-defence’.
He also condemned Donald Trump’s threat to destroy the ‘whole civilisation’ of Iran – and even blamed him for soaring energy bills as the rift between the pair deepened still further.
In an interview with ITV’s Talking Politics podcast during his trip to allies in the Gulf, Sir Keir was told that Iran’s deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh has accused US bombers of demolishing four residential buildings and killing dozens of people after taking off from a British base.
The PM replied that UK forces were only taking action ‘in collective self-defence of British lives, British interests and of course our allies here in the Gulf’ and that he had decided ‘we would allow our bases to be used strictly for that collective self-defence’.
He insisted that ‘our bases would not be used and are not being used for attacks on civilians’.
Pressed on the matter, Sir Keir said: ‘We are monitoring that very clearly as you would expect- the principles are in place.
‘Really clear about that divide- no offensive action, not joining in the war, of collective self-defence only and that our bases will not be and are not being used for wider offensive and particularly for offensive on civilians.’
Asked about the US President’s warning as the deadline for his ceasefire loomed that ‘a whole civilisation will die tonight’, Sir Keir said: ‘They are not words I would use, ever use, because I come at this with our British values and principles.’
He also blamed President Trump as well as Russia’s Vladimir Putin for the high prices paid by Britons for energy.
‘I’m fed up with the fact that families across the country see their bills go up and down on energy, businesses’ bills go up and down on energy because of the actions of Putin or Trump across the world,’ he said Britain needed to be self-sufficient in generating power.
And he said Israel’s strikes on Lebanon were ‘wrong’ regardless of whether or not they breached the ceasefire.
‘That should stop – that’s my strong view – and therefore, the question isn’t a technical one of whether it’s a breach of the agreement or not.’
Earlier the PM said that Iran must not ‘hold the Strait of Hormuz to ransom’ as the UK rejected the prospect of ships being charged to pass through the vital waterway.
As he visited Abu Dhabi on the second day of his visit to the Gulf, the Prime Minister vowed to allies that plans would be developed to restore freedom of navigation to the shipping lane now controlled by Tehran.
His Foreign Secretary also spoke out against the proposal made by Iran in its 10-point peace plan for it to charge a fee of up to $2million for each vessel travelling through the Strait of Hormuz.
Yvette Cooper said in a speech at the Lady Mayor’s Easter Banquet on Thursday night: ‘The fundamental freedoms of the seas must not be unilaterally withdrawn or sold off to individual bidders. Nor can there be any place for tolls on an international waterway.’
She told the BBC that the strait – through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquified natural gas passes – is a shipping route subject to international maritime law.
‘Freedom of navigation principles apply and countries cannot simply hijack those kinds of international transit routes and unilaterally apply tolls.
‘They cannot do that as part of the laws of the sea and the United Nations arrangements.’
It risks yet another clash with President Trump, who has said the plan for a so-called ‘Tehran tollbooth’ could be a ‘joint venture’ between the US and Iran, calling it a ‘beautiful thing’.
He also demanded that NATO forces send warships to unlock the Strait of Hormuz within days or risk the US pulling out of the alliance.
Several diplomats were briefed on the President’s ultimatum after he held talks with General Secretary Mark Rutte in Washington on Wednesday.
Rutte subsequently told European capitals that Washington is seeking ‘concrete commitments’ in the coming days, Der Spiegel reported.
The diplomats characterised the request as an ‘ultimatum’ and that the Trump administration made it clear that vague ‘political pledges’ are no longer sufficient.
It was unclear if the US is pushing for a formal NATO mission, or simply coordinated national deployments.
Mr Trump has continued to berate the alliance, calling it ‘very disappointing’, writing on Truth Social that they do not understand ‘anything unless they have pressure placed upon them!!!’.
