U.S.–UK Military Cooperation

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has approved a U.S. request to use British bases for what he calls "specific and limited" defensive strikes targeting Iran’s missile capabilities, saying the only way to stop the threat is to destroy missiles "at source" in depots or on launchers. In a recorded statement after the U.S.–Israeli Operation Epic Fury strikes on Iran and Tehran’s missile and drone retaliation, Starmer stressed that the UK itself will not participate in those offensive strikes, while Defence Secretary John Healey insisted British actions remain defensive and aimed at protecting UK forces, bases and allies. Healey disclosed that two Iranian missiles were fired toward Cyprus, where the UK has sovereign bases, and that RAF Typhoon jets from a joint UK–Qatar squadron operating out of Qatar intercepted an Iranian drone heading toward that country; about 300 British personnel are also stationed at a naval facility in Bahrain near recent missile and drone impacts. Healey said the UK has "stepped up alongside the Americans" by flying air-defense sorties and shooting down threatening drones across the region, even as he declined to speculate on whether Britain would join any future U.S. offensive action. The moves underline how U.S. war planning against Iran is increasingly reliant on allied basing and air-defense coordination, while London tries to walk a line between supporting Washington militarily and avoiding direct participation in strikes on Iranian territory.