KEIR Starmer has defended Donald Trump launching airstrikes against Iran – insisting America was “alleviating a threat to nuclear weaponry by the Iranians”.
Speaking ahead of the Nato leaders’ summit in the Netherlands, the Prime Minister backed America’s attacks on the Middle Eastern country, which had no backing from the UN and came in support of Israel’s offensive war on Iran.
Asked if he felt safer with Trump in charge, Starmer 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.”
Ministers have so far been at pains to stress Britain was not involved in the attacks, with Foreign Secretary David Lammy (above) earlier this week refusing to be drawn on whether the attacks were illegal.
Starmer’s comments came after another day of chaos in the Middle East, with a ceasefire deal being struck and then swiftly abandoned as Israel claimed Iran had launched missile strikes after it came into force.
Iran’s military chiefs denied this, but faced a fresh onslaught ordered by the Israeli defence minister Israel Katz.
Trump called for Israel to withdraw its warplanes, and claimed both it and Iran “don’t know what the f*** they’re doing” as he departed for the Nato summit in The Hague.
Downing Street said the UK was prioritising getting Iran back to talks to agree a lasting settlement.
“Our priority now is a diplomatic solution, which is why the Prime Minister has urged Iran to come back to the negotiating table in pursuit of a lasting settlement,” a No 10 spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Trump reportedly told journalists that “it depends on your definition” of Nato’s Article Five when asked if he supports the provision, which states that an attack against one member of the alliance is considered an attack against all.
Both Iran and Israel had agreed to the ceasefire in the early hours of Tuesday morning, after Trump announced they would both sign up to the plan.
But Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (below) warned his country would “respond forcefully” if any violation of the agreement was discovered.
Accusations of one soon followed, with the Israeli military claiming Iran fired off missiles several hours after the deal came into force.
Israel then responded by ordering further strikes against Iran.
“ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, the social media site he owns.
The US president appeared angry that his peace proposal had not held as he spoke with reporters outside the White House.
“They violated it but Israel violated it too,” the US president said, adding: “I’m not happy with Israel.”
He also said: “You basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f*** they are doing, do you understand that?”
