Starmer lets US use bases for Iran clash: UK’s military, legal quagmire

Starmer lets US use bases for Iran clash: UK’s military, legal quagmireA drone strike at a British base in Cyprus highlights UK’s precarious position in US attacks on Iran as it walks a legal and military tightrope.Starmer says UK involvement in US strikes on Iran is ‘defensivePublished On 2 Mar 2026Early on Monday, a suspected Iranian drone crashed into the runway at the United Kingdom’s RAF Akrotiri base in southern Cyprus. British and Cypriot officials said the damage was limited. There were no casualties.Hours later, two drones headed for the base were “dealt with in a timely manner”, according to the Cypriot government.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4What’s happening in Lebanon as Iran war spills overlist 2 of 4Why has the UAE closed its stock exchanges?list 3 of 4Israel intensifies war on Lebanon after Hezbollah attacklist 4 of 4Gas prices soar as QatarEnergy halts LNG production after Iran attacksend of listThe incidents came as Prime Minister Keir Starmer signalled on Sunday that the UK was prepared to support the United States in its confrontation with Iran – raising the prospect that it could be drawn deeper into a war it did not choose by its closest ally.In a joint statement with the leaders of France and Germany, Starmer said the European group was ready to take “proportionate defensive action” to destroy threats “at their source”.Later, in a televised address, he confirmed that Westminster approved a US request to use British bases for the “defensive purpose” of destroying Iranian missiles “at source in their storage depots, or the launches which are used to fire the missiles”.But his agreement did little to placate US President Donald Trump, who said the decision came too late.UK-based military analyst Sean Bell cautioned against reading too much into the Akrotiri incident.“I understand the projectile that hit Cyprus was not armed, it hit a hangar [with] no casualties, and appears to have been fired from Lebanon,” he said, citing sources.Al Jazeera was not able to independently verify the claim.The broader context, he argued, is more consequential.The US has taken the action “and everybody else is having to deal with the fallout”, he said.Iran’s military strength lies in its extensive ballistic missile programme, he said, adding that while some have the range to threaten the UK, they do not extend far enough to strike the US.“I don’t think [US] President Trump has yet made the legal case for attacking Iran, and … international law makes no discrimination between a nation carrying out the act of war and a nation supporting that act of war, so you’re both equally complicit,” he said.Bell said that Washington likely reframed the issue, communicating to London that, whatever triggered the escalation, US forces were now effectively defending British personnel in the region.That shift, he suggested, provided a legal basis to “not to attack Iran, but to protect our people”, allowing the UK to approve US operations from its bases under a “very, very clear set of instructions” tied strictly to national interest and defence.UK officials ‘tying themselves in knots’However, concerns of complicity had reportedly shaped earlier decisions, according to Tim Ripley, editor of the Defence Eye news service, who said the British government initially concluded that US and Israeli strikes on Iran did not meet the legal definition of self-defence under the United Nations Charter.When Washington requested the use of bases such as RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, UK, and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, Starmer is understood to have consulted government lawyers, who advised against participation.Up until Starmer’s televised address, in which he approved the US request, the UK had not considered the campaign a war of self-defence, said Ripley. While Washington’s legal reasoning has not changed, the war’s trajectory has.Iranian retaliatory strikes – which have seen drones and missiles targeting Gulf states – have placed British expatriates and treaty partners under direct threat.“The basis of our decision is the collective self-defence of longstanding friends and allies, and protecting British lives. This is in line with international law,” Starmer said.According to Ripley, several Gulf governments, which maintain defence relationships with the UK, sought protection, allowing London to focus on protecting British personnel and partners rather than endorsing a broader campaign. However, with memories of the Iraq War hanging over Westminster, British ministers have stopped short of explicitly backing the US bombing campaign.British officials are “tying themselves in knots” trying to describe a position that is neither fully participatory nor detached, he said.US-UK: A strained relationshipStarmer on Monday told Parliament that the UK does not believe in “regime change from the skies” but supports the idea of defensive action.But Ripley warned that any arrangement allowing US warplanes to operate from British air bases carries significant risks.Iran’s missile systems are mobile and launchers mounted on trucks, he said. From RAF Fairford or Diego Garcia, US aircraft face flight times of seven to nine hours to reach Iranian airspace, necessitating patrol-based missions.Once airborne, pilots may have only minutes to act. The idea that a US crew would pause mid-mission to seek fresh British legal approval is unrealistic, he said.London must rely on Washington’s assurance that only agreed categories of “defensive” targets will be struck. If an opportunity arose to eliminate a senior Iranian commander in the same operational zone, the temptation could be strong. Yet such a strike might fall outside Britain’s stated defensive mandate. The aircraft would have departed from British soil, and any escalation could implicate the UK, Ripley said.Bell highlighted another weakness: Britain has no domestic ballistic missile defence system.If a ballistic missile were fired at London, he said, “We would not be able to shoot it down.”Intercepting such weapons after launch is notoriously difficult, reinforcing the argument that the only reliable defence is to strike before launch.The UK, therefore, occupies a grey zone: legally cautious, operationally exposed and strategically dependent on US decisions, it does not fully control.Beyond the legal and military dilemmas, Starmer must also contend with a sceptical public.A YouGov poll conducted on February 20 found that 58 percent of Britons oppose allowing the US to launch air strikes on Iran from UK bases, including 38 percent who strongly oppose.Just 21 percent support such a move, underscoring limited domestic backing for deeper involvement.