Britain is deploying additional military resources, including fighter aircraft, to the Middle East to bolster regional support, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday while en route to the Group of Seven summit in Canada.
The announcement comes amid rapidly escalating tensions between Iran and Israel, who exchanged missile strikes over the weekend. The confrontation intensified after Israel launched a large-scale air offensive on Friday, targeting Iranian military figures, nuclear scientists and key installations. Israel claimed the operation was aimed at preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.
We are moving assets to the region, including jets, and that is for contingency support in the region, Starmer said.
Britain already has fighter jets in the Middle East as part of an operation to counter threats in Iraq and Syria.
)
)
Crews began deployment preparations on Friday morning, when it was clear the situation in the region was deteriorating, a spokesperson for the prime minister said.
Further refuelling aircraft from British bases have been deployed, and additional fighter jets will be sent, the spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday that Tehran would not attend nuclear talks with the United States so long as Israel kept up its attacks on the Islamic Republic.
In a call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, Pezeshkian said Iran favoured diplomacy, but will not accept irrational demands under pressure or& sit at the negotiating table while the Zionist regime continues its attacks, according to a readout shared by the Iranian presidency.
Macron said in a statement of his own that he had asked Pezeshkian to return swiftly to the negotiating table.
With inputs from agencies
