The UK’s Attorney General has cautioned Prime Minister Keir Starmer that British involvement in potential U.S.-led airstrikes on Iran could violate international law, urging restraint unless national or allied forces are directly attacked.
According to reports, Richard Hermer, the government’s chief legal adviser, has recommended that the UK’s contribution be limited strictly to defensive measures in support of allies. He is said to have cast doubt on the legality of Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Iran and warned against the UK taking part in any offensive operations without a direct threat to British personnel.
A government insider noted: “The AG has concerns about the UK playing any role in this except for defending our allies.”
The caution follows a series of provocative comments from U.S. President Donald Trump, who on Wednesday suggested airstrikes on Tehran were under active consideration. “I may do it. I may not do it,” he said, after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected calls for an unconditional surrender. “The next week is going to be very big.”
The unfolding situation in Iran’s capital has become increasingly unstable. Thousands have reportedly fled Tehran following a fresh wave of airstrikes, with many businesses shuttered and city streets eerily empty.
Prime Minister Starmer chaired a late-night emergency Cobra meeting on Wednesday to assess the spiraling Middle East crisis. Just days earlier, he had expressed optimism that President Trump would not escalate U.S. military involvement in the conflict between Israel and Iran.
The UK Foreign Office has already pulled family members of British embassy staff out of Israel as a precaution, though there has been no official advice issued for British nationals to evacuate. Downing Street has reiterated that Britain’s official stance remains one of “de-escalation, not escalation.”
Trump Comments Fuel Geopolitical Tensions
Foreign Secretary David Lammy is expected to meet with his U.S. counterpart Marco Rubio in Washington on Thursday, amid growing uncertainty about possible U.S. intervention. Their discussions are expected to include Trump’s comments and the increasingly aggressive military exchanges between Israel and Iran.
The conflict flared up again when Israel launched a series of strikes aimed at halting Iran’s alleged nuclear ambitions. Tehran, which maintains that its nuclear programme is strictly for peaceful purposes, has condemned the attacks and blamed Israel for hundreds of civilian casualties.
The Israeli military has confirmed targeting multiple locations across Iran in the latest round of air raids. In a post on X, it warned civilians to evacuate areas surrounding the Arak heavy water reactor, located approximately 155 miles southwest of Tehran.
Iranian state television later announced that the reactor had been hit, but insisted it had already been evacuated and that there was “no radiation danger whatsoever.”
In Israel, retaliatory missile attacks have also taken their toll. The Soroka Medical Centre in Beer Sheba, a major hospital in southern Israel, sustained “extensive damage” from an Iranian missile strike, according to hospital officials.
The rhetoric between Washington and Tehran is heating up. Khamenei has warned the United States that any direct involvement in the conflict would inflict “irreparable damage” on America, signaling that the stakes are escalating rapidly.
Lammy’s Washington visit will also cover broader geopolitical issues, including the situation in Ukraine and the recent progress on a UK-US trade deal, sections of which were finalised during the recent G7 summit by Sir Keir and President Trump.
As diplomatic and military tensions rise, the UK is treading carefully, balancing its alliances while avoiding becoming entangled in a volatile new front of conflict.
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