Trump Attacks Weak Starmer over Iran Dither and Delay | The Daily T

Why It Matters

The events have sharply heightened the risk of a wider Middle East war, disrupted global energy and trade routes, and strained the UK–US special relationship at a moment when allied coordination and legal justification for military action are under intense scrutiny.

Summary

Donald Trump criticized UK Labour leader Keir Starmer and the government after the US-led strikes that reportedly killed Iran’s supreme leader and much of his senior team, saying Britain should have allowed US use of its bases. The strikes have triggered a rapid regional escalation—Iran and its proxies have launched missile and drone attacks across the Gulf, struck US and allied facilities, and prompted mass evacuations from Gulf cities. The UK government has faced domestic controversy over withholding access to Diego Garcia and legal advice suggesting the operation may breach international law, while US forces reported casualties and equipment losses. Broad uncertainty persists over whether the campaign aims to degrade Iran’s nuclear and missile programs or pursue regime change, drawing in allies and widening the conflict.

Original Description

Donald Trump has exclusively told The Telegraph that he is “very disappointed” in Sir Keir Starmer, after the Government initially refused the US permission to use UK bases to stage an operation in Iran that killed the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a host of his deputies.

With the conflict now drawing in almost the entire Middle East, and the UK reluctantly involved after a drone attack on an RAF base in Cyprus, Camilla Tominey and Tim Stanley speak to former chief of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove, who bemoans Starmer’s “flip-flopping” on the issue.

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