Senior Iranian Official Warns UK Over War

A senior Iranian official has warned the UK to “be very careful” about getting further involved in the war in his country.

Seyed Ali Mousavi, Iran’s ambassador to the UK, said countries which allow America to use their bases to carry out bombing raids were a “legitimate target for us”.

Keir Starmer initially refused Donald Trump’s request for US jets to use RAF bases to launch attacks on Iranian targets.

The prime minister performed a U-turn after Iran began attacking other countries in the Middle East, putting the lives of 300,000 British citizens at risk.

However, the government has insisted that UK bases can only be used for “defensive” operations against Iranian weapons storage facilities and missile launch sites.

Two British warships – HMS Dragon and the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales – are expected to set sail to the region next week.

On Saturday night, Trump told Starmer the US doesn’t “need people that join wars after we’ve already won”.

Ali Mousavi told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday show: “Who started this war? American side and the Israeli regime.

“They are using their bases from the Persian Gulf countries. OK, that would be a legitimate target for us.

“We do not want to attack anybody. We are very delicate, we are very careful regarding our activities.

“We do expect other people, including the British government, to be very delicate, to be very careful for their own activities.”

Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper told the same programme that Starmer is “right to stand up for Britain and Britain’s interests”, despite Trump’s criticisms.

She said: “It’s for the US president to decide what he thinks is in the US national interest, and that’s for him to do.

“But it is our job as the UK government to decide what’s in the UK national interest, and that doesn’t mean simply agreeing with other countries or outsourcing our foreign policy to other countries.”