A senior minister gave the warmest endorsement yet of Donald Trump’s Iran bombing raid as a ceasefire was announced today.
Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said the UK was ‘not disappointed’ that the US had acted – hailing the ‘huge setback’ for Tehran.
There are tentative hopes that the Iran-Israel clashes might be coming to an end after Mr Trump declared a ceasefire had been brokered.
Israel said it had successfully removed Iran’s ‘dual immediate existential threat’ of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Tehran also confirmed a ceasefire was in place this morning, just hours after launching ‘token’ retaliatory attacks on America’s largest military base in the Middle East.
However, tensions already look to be rising again with Iran accused of launching a fresh barrage.
There are concerns that the UK’s influence has been undermined after Sir Keir pointedly refused to back the US action.
Last week the PM publicly insisted he did not believe Mr Trump would strike Iran, and after the raids he insisted the UK was ‘absolutely focused on de-escalation’.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy repeatedly refused to say yesterday that the strikes were the ‘right thing to do’ and told MPs the issue of British support was not a ‘binary question’.
In contrast, Nato and Germany offered full-throated backing.
Nato chief Mark Rutte said the US bombing raid did not break international law – and said that his ‘biggest fear’ was that Iran’s murderous regime would acquire a nuclear weapon.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said there was ‘no reason to criticise what America did at the weekend,’ adding: ‘Yes, it is not without risk. But leaving things as they were was not an option either.’
Critics warned that ministers had been left ‘paralysed’ over the issue after Attorney General Lord Hermer advised that joining Israel’s attacks on Iran, which began 11 days ago, would break international law.
Asked at the Nato summit in The Hague today whether he felt safer with Mr Trump in charge, Sir Keir 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.’
Asked in a round of interviews this morning whether the UK was ‘disappointed or pleased’ that the US acted, Mr McFadden said: ‘Well I don’t think we’re disappointed.
‘If this brings Iran’s nuclear programme to an end I think the world will be relieved about that.
‘The US is a strong ally of the UK and we are a strong ally of the US. What we now want to see, if this ceasefire does hold, is Iran having learned that it cannot be allowed to proceed with this programme, agreeing to bring to an end once and for all their attempt to develop a nuclear weapon.’
Mr McFadden told Sky News the ‘one country that doesn’t come out of this as winners is Iran’.
‘I’m talking about the events of the last 10 days. I think they have been a huge setback for Iran. That setback isn’t the only one that Iran has had,’ he said.
‘It’s been funding proxies in the region for years. They have also had a setback there.
‘If you compare the strength and standing of Iran now compared to say a year ago, there’s a big difference.
‘But the process is not finished because we don’t know for sure that they have given up on their attempts to get a nuclear weapon.’
Kemi Badenoch said it was ‘quite extraordinary’ that ministers were unable to side with the United States against a regime which MI5 says has attempted 20 plots on British soil in the past three years.
Mrs Badenoch said Labour’s attempt to sit on the fence showed ‘a complete absence of moral clarity and, in fact, moral courage’.
The Tory leader said she was clear that the US bombing raid was legal, after the shadow attorney general Lord Wolfson advised that aiding Israel was in line with international law because a key ally was facing a ‘genocidal threat’ from Iran’s nuclear programme.
During a BBC interview yesterday, Mr Lammy refused eight times to endorse Mr Trump’s actions, saying repeatedly that the UK was ‘not involved’.
In a separate interview with LBC, armed forces minister Luke Pollard failed on seven occasions to back the military action by the US, saying: ‘That’s not one for me to comment on.’
A spokesman for the PM said preventing Iran gaining a nuclear weapon would be a ‘good thing’.
But he added: ‘Our focus is on diplomacy. That is the priority and that is what every member of this government is working towards and that’s been the focus of the calls with international partners over the weekend. Iran should take the opportunity presented by the US to re-enter talks.’
Sir Keir raised eyebrows yesterday by leaving Mr Lammy to update MPs on the crisis. He missed his weekly session of PMQs last week because of the G7 summit in Canada and is due to be at the Nato summit tomorrow.
