Starmer chairs Cobra meeting after US and Israel strikes on Iran

Keir Starmer is chairing a meeting of the UK government’s Cobra emergency committee as Britain decides how to respond to the US-Israeli bombing of Iran and Tehran’s retaliation against bases in the Gulf. The UK did not take part in the first wave of strikes but had deployed RAF Typhoons to Qatar to protect the al-Udeid airbase and other allied facilities in the region.

British nationals in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates were advised to shelter in place and the Foreign Office warned against all travel to Israel and Palestine. An extra six F-35s and additional air-defence, radar and counterdrone systems were sent to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, where they could be deployed to defend Israel, Jordan or other countries in the Middle East.

Iran launched an immediate counterattack aimed at US bases in the Gulf, with initial reports of assaults on bases in Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait, and at Israel. British forces are present at those bases in small numbers, and there are no reports of casualties.

United Kingdom, Middle East

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