DONALD Trump reportedly did not warn Boris Johnson of the American plot to assassinate Iran’s top general – despite the unexpected attack putting hundreds of British personnel at risk.
It’s still not yet clear what the consequences of Thursday’s drone attack on Qasem Soleimani at Baghdad Airport will be, but Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said there will be “severe revenge”.
Fears of reprisals led to the Ministry of Defence yesterday increasing its security and readiness at bases in the middle east. There are currently 400 British troops currently based in Iraq, spread between four locations.
READ MORE: Elite Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani dies in US airstrike
The UK also has a significant number of citizens and diplomats in the country.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called for calm and a “de-escalation”.
In a short statement, he said: “We have always recognised the aggressive threat posed by the Iranian Quds force led by Qasem Soleimani. Following his death, we urge all parties to de-escalate. Further conflict is in none of our interests.”
Despite the UK government’s lack of explicit support for the White House’s actions, Tehran will likely regard the UK as closely linked to American actions.
When Iran seized a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz last September, a number of European countries created their own merchant shipping protection force in the Gulf, shunning the offer of an American international task force, fearing that it would tie them inextricably to Trump’s actions.
However, UK stood with the US, with HMS Montrose, based permanently in the region.
Jeremy Corbyn urged the Government to stand up to the “belligerent” White House.
READ MORE: ‘Harsh retaliation’ threat from Iran as US kills top general
He described the assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani as “an extremely serious and dangerous escalation of conflict in the Middle East”.
In a statement, Corbyn said: “The UK Government should urge restraint on the part of both Iran and the US, and stand up to the belligerent actions and rhetoric coming from the United States.”
SNP Westminster chief Ian Blackford said Trump had acted “without concern to the consequences”.
“We need to see calm heads and diplomacy to deal with a situation that has all the potential to spiral out of control.”
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