Streeting: UK should not put too much stock in Iran’s sabre-rattling

The UK should not “put too much stock in the sabre-rattling of Iran,” the Defence Secretary has said, after Tehran criticised Britain for allowing the US to use its bases.

Wes Streeting on Sunday said the UK should not be intimidated after Iran claimed Britain would “bear responsibility” for its action.

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) earlier this week accused the Government of “complicity in the crime of aggression and war crimes” by allowing the US to carry out “unlawful attacks”.

While the Government has refused to take part in offensive campaigns against Iran, it has allowed the US to launch defensive strikes from British bases hosting American personnel.

In a statement, Iran’s MFA said that anyone who supported “military aggression against Iran will bear responsibility for the consequences and repercussions of its decision”.

Asked whether Iran could target the UK, the Defence Secretary told BBC Breakfast: “I think we shouldn’t put too much stock in the sabre-rattling of Iran, and we certainly shouldn’t be intimidated by what the regime has said this week.

“We haven’t joined offensive action against Iran.

“We have taken part in defensive action to support UK people, personnel, interests, and our allies, and we will continue to do so.

“But we stand ready to respond to any attacks that Iran wishes to wage against this country or our allies, and we will continue to do that.”

Mr Streeting is seeking to improve the UK’s relationship with Washington by working together to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and promising to invest in the UK military.

He said he was “delighted” to speak to his US counterpart Pete Hegseth on Friday.

“I suspect we’ll be speaking early again in the next week because there is a lot going on in the world. There’s a lot of risk. There’s a lot of jeopardy, and there are global challenges that we can only meet by working together.”

Mr Streeting said they were “currently kicking around some ideas about how to bring countries together” at an international conference in London to discuss in particular the “challenge” of the effective closure by Iran of the vital shipping corridor since the conflict broke out in February.

Mr Hegseth, the US secretary of war, last month lambasted European leaders for denying the US unfettered use of bases.

The Cabinet minister told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News of his meeting with Mr Hegseth: “I was clear that we’ve not supported offensive action in Iran and we won’t support offensive action in Iran, but there are plenty of things that we can and should do together when it comes to securing the Strait of Hormuz, in making sure that Iran doesn’t develop nuclear weapons, in terms of investing in our capability and Nato’s capability.”

But, he conceded “it’s hard to undertake that work … while hostilities continue, and that’s why every effort is being made, particularly by allies in the regions, to try and bring about the conditions where we can achieve that”.

Washington has paused its strikes on Iran and diplomatic efforts are being ramped up, but Mr Streeting said it was “too soon to make those judgments” when asked whether there has been a suspension of hostilities.

The lull in fighting comes after nearly two weeks of intensifying bombing which fuelled fears of a return to a full-blown conflict, after June’s interim ceasefire deal collapsed amid a battle for control over the strait.