Starmer: United States can use British bases in war against Iran

(Patria) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated on Sunday that his country accepted the United States' request to use British bases for defensive strikes against Iranian missiles in storage or on launchers, Reuters reported.

"The United States has requested permission to use British bases for this specific and limited defensive purpose. We have made the decision to accept this request to prevent Iran from launching missiles across the region," he said in a video message on social network X.

My update on the situation in the Middle East. pic.twitter.com/DvsOVcTDMy

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) March 1, 2026

Starmer reiterated that the United Kingdom was not involved in the joint US-Israeli air strikes on Iran in which the country's supreme leader Ali Khamenei was killed on Saturday, adding that the UK would not join further waves of attacks.

However, he said that Iran retaliated by launching continuous attacks across the region and that its missiles hit airports and hotels where British citizens were staying.

"Our decision for the UK not to be involved in attacks on Iran was deliberate, not only because we believe the best path forward for the region and for the world is a negotiated solution, one in which Iran agrees to abandon any aspirations for developing nuclear weapons," he said.

"But Iran is nevertheless attacking British interests and putting British people at enormous risk."

British partners in the Gulf have asked us to do more to defend them, he said, and it is his duty to protect British lives.

British fighter jets have already participated in coordinated defensive operations and intercepted Iranian attacks, he said, but the only way to stop the threat was to destroy the missiles at their source in storage or on launchers.
Accepting the US request, therefore, is based on "collective self-defense of long-standing friends and allies and the protection of British lives" in accordance with international law, he said.