Britain's Middle East minister has explained the UK’s role in the US-Israeli war on Iran, saying the country was ready for the conflict and had key military equipment in place, which was rapidly put into action to respond to Tehran's attacks on Gulf states.
Hamish Falconer told The National that the UK had “pre-positioned a whole range of stuff, both people and equipment” from early January, but that some hardware that has “proven most important and effective” was not necessarily what people “would recognise as obvious military equipment”.
The government has been criticised for not having any Royal Navy warships in the Arabian Gulf or the Mediterranean at the start of the conflict, but Mr Falconer pointed out that British jets, radar, missile defence systems and other equipment were in place to defend against drones.
“I'm incredibly proud of the pilots who are flying Typhoons and F-35s, but there's also other really important equipment that has been able to take down drones, [including] ground-based radar and missile defences,” he said.
An additional 1,000 British troops were also stationed in the region before the war broke out, with many working in air defence and surveillance roles.
But as Iran continues its missile and drone attacks on the Gulf, Mr Falconer said, “nobody is pretending that this is a challenge that is easy to be perfectly on top of”.
“It is important that we deliver messages clearly and directly to the Iranians. We consider their attacks on our friends and partners utterly reckless,” he added.
Mr Falconer pledged that Britain would also seek to introduce new technology to the region to help defend against the drone strikes.
“One of the questions for our partnerships with the Gulf in the future is how we make sure that we use all of the really important and fast moving learning that we get from our experience in Ukraine to try to help ensure that as this threat develops, we're right ahead of it.”
He said the British government has “deep concerns about the escalating conflict”, and called on Iran to stop its attacks and “attempts to threaten the region”.
Britain still maintains contact with the Iranian regime and “will obviously continue to play our full diplomatic role”, Mr Falconer added, although all UK government staff have been withdrawn from Tehran.
Asked to comment on US President Donald Trump's repeated calls for regime change in Tehran, Mr Falconer said that “questions of the Iranian government are questions for the Iranian people”.
“But they've suffered egregiously under the violent crackdown against protests, and my thoughts are very much with the Iranian people,” he added.
Mr Falconer, who has visited the Middle East many times as a minister and in his previous role with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, said the current war had strengthened the bonds between Britain and its allies in the region.
“Whatever else happens, as a result of the events of recent weeks, I think the relationship between the UK, the Gulf and Jordan will be deepened by the degree to which we have worked together during these difficult days,” he said.
“These are incredibly important relationships, and they go back a long way, and they are felt deeply. And you can feel how deeply these relationships are felt from the huge numbers of British nationals who've been in the region in this period as well.”
