[0:00]The UK has allowed the US to use their bases to launch defensive strikes against Iran. So does that mean the UK is now directly involved in this conflict in Iran? The United States and Israel are launching air strikes across Iran. The United States military began major combat operations in Iran. When the US and Israel started attacking Iran, the government here was quite clear it didn't want any part of those attacks. The United Kingdom played no role in these strikes. They would rather diplomacy be the way forward, but what shifted over Sunday is that we've seen Iranian missiles in retaliation reigning down on countries around the Gulf.
[0:48]where there are maybe 300,000 British citizens, holiday makers, people who live there, British servicemen in bases and the UK government says it has to do something to protect those people, which is why it has allowed the US to use two British bases to launch attacks against Iranian missiles, sites, launchers and depots in Iran. The British government insists though that it's agreeing to defensive action. specific and limited defensive purpose. It means that there will be missions carried out from Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and a British base RAF Fairford in England where American planes will take off to bomb targets in Iran. What the UK's adamant that it's not going to do is to give the green light to any British bases being used to attack Iran directly, whether political leaders or Iranian infrastructure, that is not going to happen. This though is a really interesting case of where their view of how the world works divides really. President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial strikes, but it is my duty to judge what is in Britain's national interest. That is what I've done and I stand by it. You know, Donald Trump wanted to use American military force with Israel unilaterally to take out the leadership of another country. The government's perspective here is that it would be better to carry on diplomacy and the Prime Minister here very mindful too of the politics involved. We all remember the mistakes of Iraq, and we have learned those lessons. The memory even 20 years later of that long war in Iraq and the British involvement there and Afghanistan of course. I think he knows that within his own party there'll be many people very nervous about where this goes next.
