UK confirms it did not participate in US strikes on Iran despite aware of plans, says minister

By Aysu Bicer

LONDON (AA) - The UK government confirmed Sunday that it was not involved in the recent US airstrikes on Iran, despite being made aware of the plans in advance.

Speaking on Sky News on Sunday morning, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the US did not request to use the UK base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for the strikes.

He also emphasized that Britain had not taken part in the military operation.

“We support the prevention of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. We had proposed a diplomatic course of action, as other European countries had done, the Iranians had rejected that,” Reynolds said.

The US strikes marked a significant escalation in tensions in the region, prompting widespread concern over the potential for further conflict.

Reynolds acknowledged these fears, seeking to reassure the public and British nationals in the affected areas.

“I know people will be waking up this morning, and they’ll be worried. They’ll want to know what this means, and I do want to give them reassurance that whilst the British government, the UK has not been involved in these attacks, we have been making extensive preparations for all eventualities, including how we look after British nationals in the region and how we get them out, and the assets we have in the region to protect British infrastructure, British bases, British personnel, if we need to do that,” he said.

US President Donald Trump said early Sunday that his forces bombed three Iranian nuclear sites in Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan.

The attacks came as the latest escalation in a US-backed Israeli military assault on Iran since June 13, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory attacks on Israel.

Israeli authorities said at least 25 people have been killed and hundreds injured since then in Iranian missile attacks.

Meanwhile, in Iran, 430 people have been killed and more than 3,500 wounded in the Israeli assault, according to the Iranian Health Ministry.