Summary
Thank you for following along with our live coverage today. While we’re closing this blog, you can continue to follow the latest developments in our Middle East crisis blog, which is tracking the escalating conflict.
Tune in tomorrow for more. Here’s what’s happened so far today:
The RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus was hit by a drone strike overnight. Initially, it was believed that the strike came just hours after Keir Starmer had announced that the UK has allowed the US use British military bases to attack Iranian missile sites, but a Ministry of Defence assessment found that it had actually happened before the prime minister’s announcement.
Starmer took heat from the left and the right for first saying the UK would not get involved in the strikes on Iran but then allowing the US to use UK bases in their operations. The prime minister addressed the criticism before Parliament on Monday afternoon, saying that Iran’s “outrageous actions” could not be ignored and that the UK would continue engaging in defensive actions while still not joining in on the strikes.
Donald Trump told The Telegraph that he was “very disappointed” in Starmer for initially not allowing the US to use UK bases. “President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial strikes,” Starmer said Monday. “But it is my duty to judge what is in Britain’s national interest. That is what I’ve done and I stand by it.”
During the day, two more unmanned drones were shot down as they headed toward RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus. Starmer said that none of the UK bases in Cyprus were being used for US bombers. John Healey, the secretary of state for defence, announced that the government was moving families who live at RAF Akrotiri to temporary accommodations in Cyprus as a precaution. Greece committed to sending two frigates and two F-16 fighter jets to Cyprus “to contribute to its defence against the threats it faces”.
Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper held strong as she made the rounds on the morning shows, saying that it was “simply not true” that the UK is being dragged into another Iraq-style conflict in the Middle East. She worked to keep the focus of the coverage on the “300,000 estimated British citizens in other Gulf countries that are being targeted by Iranian missiles and drones”. She fielded a number of questions about possible evacuation plans for the Britons in the region, some of whom are unable to return to the UK because of closed airspace and grounded flights. She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that they are working with the airlines, travel companies and local governments and are sending out rapid deployment teams to provide support and that 102,000 British nationals have registered their presence in the region.
The US secretary of defence, Pete Hegseth, has called the joint US-Israeli strikes in Iran the “most lethal and precise air power campaign in history”, indicated the US did not plan to effect a democratic transition in Iran – and refused to establish a clear timeline for how long the US operation will continue.
In the first public remarks by an administration official since the war began on Saturday, Hegseth also said that the US did not have “boots on the ground” in Iran but that he wouldn’t speculate what “we will or will not do”. He also said that four US service members had been killed by a ballistic missile that managed to penetrate allied air defenses.
But speaking soon afterwards, Donald Trump said he did not rule out sending US ground troops into Iran “if they were necessary”.
In an interview with the New York Post the president said: “I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground – like every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it … I say ‘probably don’t need them,’ [or] ‘if they were necessary.’”
Speaking to MPs, Starmer said that he doesn’t believe in changing Iran’s leadership “from the skies”, setting out how his view differs from that of Trump. Instead he said that military action needed a “viable thought-through plan, with an objective that can be achieved” – and a lawful plan.
“They’re the principles that I applied to the decision not to get involved in the offensive strikes of the U.S. and Israel,” he said.
A reminder that earlier in the day, Trump made his feeling clear to the Telegraph when he told the newspaper that Starmer took “far too much time” to let the US use British bases to carry out strikes.
UK isn’t joining military strikes on Iran, will focus on defence instead
In a statement that stressed Britain was not involved in the initial wave of attacks on Iran, Starmer said that the country will not join the US and Israel in offensive strikes. Instead the UK will focus on “defensive actions”.
Starmer added that the US will use British bases for similar purposes, with a goal of destroying Iran’s capability to fire more missiles.
“We were not involved in the initial strikes on Iran, and we will not join offensive action now, but in the face of Iran’s barrage of missiles and drones, we will protect our people in the region, and support the collective self-defence of our allies, because that is our duty to the British people,” he said.
“It is the best way to eliminate the urgent threat, to prevent the situation spiralling further, and support a return to diplomacy. It is the best way to protect British interests, and British lives. That is what this government is doing.”
Updated
RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus is not being used by US bombers, Starmer says
Starmer addressed the overnight drone strike on RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, reiterating what many in his government have said throughout the day that the strike was not in response to his decision to allow the US to use some UK bases in its strikes on Iran.
Starmer added that “our bases in Cyprus are not being used by US bombers”.
A few minutes before Starmer began addressing Parliament, John Healey, the secretary of state for defence, announced that the government was moving families who live at RAF Akrotiri to temporary accommodations in Cyprus as a precaution.
As a precautionary measure we are moving families who live at RAF Akrotiri to alternative temporary accommodation in Cyprus. I’ve spoken to the Commander of British Forces Cyprus this morning.
— John Healey (@JohnHealey_MP) March 2, 2026
My first priority is always the protection of our people - military and civilian.
Starmer: Despite initial decision to not get involved, Iran's 'outrageous response' cannot be ignored
It is clear that Iran’s outrageous response has become a theat to our peopple, our interests and our allies and it cannot be ignored,” Starmer said, who described Iran as having “lashed out across the region”.
“Mr Speaker, there are an estimated 300,00 British citizens in the region,” Starmer said. “Residents, families on holiday and those in transit. Iran has hit airports and hotels where British citizens are staying. It is deeply concerning for the whole House and the whole country.”
Starmer added that British armed forces “are also being put at risk by Iran’s actions”.
“On Saturday, Iran hit a military base in Bahrain with missiles and drones. There were 300 British personnel on the base, some within a few hundred yards of the stirke,” Starmer said.
Starmer says he stands by his decision to not get involved in intitial strikes on Iran
Keir Starmer addresed Parliament on Monday afternoon to defend his decision to not get involved with the initial US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
“We believe that the best way forward for the region and for the world is a negotiated settlement in which Iran agrees to give up any aspirations to develop a nuclear weapon and ceases its destabilising activity across the region,” he said, adding that this was the “longstanding position of successive British governments.”
Starmer continued: “President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial strikes. “But it is my duty to judge what is in Britain’s national interest. That is what I’ve done and I stand by it.”
Keir Starmer has arrived in Westminster to update Parliament on the UK and the US-Israeli strikes in Iran. Updates to come.
International law should not be a barrier to military action, Badenoch says
Parliament does not need a vote on potential UK involvement against Iran, in part because of the number of “silly” MPs with left wing views, Kemi Badenoch has said.
Answering media questions following a speech in Westminster, the Conservative leader also said that international law should not be a barrier to military action, and that “common sense” was more important.
Badenoch has openly backed the initial US-Israeli attacks on Iran, and condemned Keir Starmer for not doing so. In the speech she said this was because Starmer did not want to upset Muslim voters, providing no evidence for this argument.
Asked if there should be a Commons vote, as sought by some MPs, Badenoch said: “I don’t think we needed a vote on this. And quite frankly, given that this is the most leftwing parliament with lots of extremely silly people sitting there, it would make me worry, allowing people like Zarah Sultana and so on to vote on serious issues of national security.”
Questioned on whether her support for the initial attack meant her party supported the assassination of other leaders in unfriendly regimes, Badenoch did not reject this, saying the most important thing was “to act in the British national interest”.
Asked if this meant her party had “given up on the principle of international law”, Badenoch replied: “I think we need to be very clear about what international law is. These are agreements made between countries. They are not the same as domestic law, where you have democracy, courts and a system to enforce them. So we should stop drawing false equivalence.
“What we are talking about in the Conservative party today is common sense - ‘Is this common sense?’ Not - ‘Well, it’s written on a piece of paper, so we have to do it, even though it’s stupid.’ A lot of people are unable to tell the difference.”
Scottish Labour leader condemns father's social media post praising Ayatollah
Anas Sarwar, the leader of the Scottish Labour party, told The Press Assocation on Monday that his father was “wrong” to post a tribute to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after he was killed in US-Israeli air strikes.
Sarwar’s father, Mohammad Sarwar – a former Glasgow Labour MP and later the governor of Punjab – posted on X that the Muslim world lost a strong voice of resistance with the death of Khamenei, who he described as a martyr.
Anas Sarwar told PA that he deeply disagreed with his father’s post.
“My view is that the leader of Iran has been a brutal dictator that has obviously done many bad things to his own citizens, has threatened many of his neighbours, has funded countless attacks, has been behind several threats to our own country here, and I think there will be lots of people who have very strong views about what he was like as an individual, or what that regime was like,” Sarwar said.
He continued: “In terms of the broader situation, look, this is a really dangerous time.
“It’s a dangerous time, of course for Iran itself, but it’s a dangerous time for the entire region, and what needs to happen really quickly is a de-escalation and an end to the war.
“That means no nuclear capability for Iran, of course, but it also means freedom and peace and security for all the nations across the broader Middle East, and that has to be our priority.”
Sarwar said he was embarrassed by his father’s post. “I’m sure many of us get embarrassed by what our old man says, often in normal life, never mind publicly,” he said.
Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said it is “absolutely the wrong call” for the UK government to “join in this war” in Iran.
O’Neill also defended her decision not to attend a briefing on the situation alongside deputy first minister Emma Little-Pengelly, who said she was told there are “many, many thousands of people” from Northern Ireland in countries being targeted by Iran.
Asked about her decision not to attend the briefing at the weekend with her executive counterpart, O’Neill said she has engaged with the UK and Irish governments and her first priority remains seeing those travelling or working in the region “extracted from what is potentially a very dangerous and catastrophic situation”.
She told reporters at Stormont:
We all know actually many people that are there and we all know that people are really, really worried, families are really, really anxious.
Our job is to try to remain engaged and to get those people safely extracted. But I fundamentally disagree with the fact that the war has begun, and I fundamentally disagree with the British government’s approach.
I think this is a reckless war. This is a war that should never have begun.
O’Neill described the Iranian regime as “brutal”, “repressive” and one that “failed to live up to human rights standards”, but “it’s not for international committee to come in, breach international law, throw out the rules of diplomacy, and actually have us in a situation where today lives are being lost hour after hour.”
DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the Iranian regime “has had very strong connections with terrorists who tried to destroy Northern Ireland”, and Iranian people now have the opportunity “to pursue democracy for their own benefit and nobody else’s”.
He said:
I shed no tears for the ayatollah, and I won’t concern myself about whether individuals want to argue the toss about whether the intervention of the weekend was legal or not.
This happened. This regime was trying to assassinate the President of the United States, supports terror all around the world, and he’s gone.
I think it is a matter of fact that we are involved. I think we should have been involved earlier. At least we shouldn’t have denied the use of our RAF bases.
Updated
Kemi Badenoch has accused Keir Starmer of a “party political calculation” with his initial refusal to allow the UK-US Diego Garcia base to be used to target Iran.
Delivering a speech at the Policy Exchange think tank, the leader of the Opposition said British people “will be wondering why our country’s response has been so weak”.
She added:
The official explanation for the hesitancy is international law, but this is a fig leaf.
The real explanation is not legal, it is political.
Across the UK there are groups whose political loyalties when it comes to conflicts in the Middle East do not align with British national interests.
These are people who Labour sees as their voters because without them, they cannot stay in power.
This is not international law or principle, it is pure partisan political calculation from a Labour Party that has surrendered its right to govern our country, and it is the reality of decades of failed integration policy.
Keir Starmer is planning to update Parliament on the Middle East crisis at 3.30pm.
The Prime Minister said:
I know the situation in the Middle East is worrying for British people in the region, and at home.
It’s my duty as Prime Minister to keep British people safe.
I will be answering questions on the steps we took over the weekend in Parliament.
Farage supports regime change in Iran
Nigel Farage has said the he supports regime change in Iran as he claimed that Keir Starmer’s “pathetic” position on the war threatened Britain’s special relationship with the US.
The Reform UK leader stopped short of saying that he would be in support of British troops being committed to the ground in Iran but said that the RAF and Royal Navy should be deployed to support US strikes on Iran, which are being undertaken with Israel.
“This is, I firmly believe that freeing up, freeing-up Persian people can go on and achieve the most extraordinary things. So yes, I do support it personally, I support regime change very much indeed,” he told a press conference in Westminster.
Farage said that Britain’s involvement was justified on the basis that Iran posed a threat to a quarter of a million British people living in Dubai, “and probably up to half a million living across the whole of the Middle East.”
Britain has agreed to a US request to use UK military bases for “defensive” strikes on Iranian missile sites, the prime minister has said, though he added that the UK had learned lessons from the “mistakes of Iraq” and “will not join offensive action”.
He made the announcement after a British RAF base in Cyprus was hit by a drone strike on Sunday night.
Cooper: British interests are being targeted by Iran
Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed on Good Morning Britain that it is the Minstry of Defence determined that the drone that struck the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyrpus overnight was launched before the prime minister’s statement – meaning it was not in retaliation and confirms that “British interests are being targeted by the Iranian regime”. “We cannot ignore that,” Cooper said.
“We have always been clear that we wanted to see diplomatic processes around preventing Iran developing a nuclear programme, we continue to support that, we believe we need an agreement at the end of this to prevent that development and constrain the threat Iran poses to the region.
“But at the moment we need to recognise the threat to British citizens in the area.”
Greece to send two frigates and two F-16 fighter jets to Cyprus
After an unmanned drone struck the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus overnight – and two more drones heading toward the base were struck down on Monday – Greece will send two frigates and two F-16 fighter jets to Cyprus “to contribute to its defence against the threats it faces,” said Greek defence minister Nikos Dendias, who will also travel to Cyprus tomorrow.
For the latest on Europe’s response to US-Israel war on Iran, follow The Guardian’s live coverage here.
Report: Trump ‘very disappointed’ in Starmer over Iran
Donald Trump said he was “very disappointed” in Keir Starmer for blocking him from using British bases to carry out strikes on Iran and that he took “far too much time” to change his mind, The Telegraph reports.
The UK had previously refused to grant the US permission to conduct strikes from its bases. But Starmer changed course last night, announcing that the UK would allow the US to use British military bases to attack Iranian missile sites – after an unmanned drone had struck the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus.
Trump has indicated that he specifically wants to use RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and Diego Garcia – the largest of the Chagos islands in the Indian Ocean. In an interview with The Telegraph, Trump said Starmer’s initial refusal with Diego Garcia was unlike anything that had “happened between our countries before”, adding that it “sounds like he was worried about the legality”.
Tories accuse Starmer and Labour of 'sitting on the fence' with Iran
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge went on Sky News to criticise Keir Starmer and his handling of the conflict.
“I’ve been very clear for weeks that if we were in government and the US had asked for our permission, we would have given them permission…but what they got with the prime minister as we saw last summer with the other bombing of nuclear facilities is the worst of both worlds: sitting on the fence, not showing strong leadership, very unclear.
He continued: “If I am confused on what his position is, I wonder what the public thinks.”
'Do you agree with the govt's position on Iran?' - @SophyRidgeSky
— Ridge & Frost (@RidgeandFrost) March 2, 2026
'If I am confused on what the PM's position is, I wonder what the public thinks... he needs to be much clearer' - Shadow defence secretary @jcartlidgemphttps://t.co/1EuZwxPhDm pic.twitter.com/HBvcT3brZQ
Cartlidge said that he believes Iran’s nuclear program “is a profound threat to the world and to ourselves” and that his party supports the US.
Two more unmanned drones heading toward British base in Cyprus shot down
Konstantinos Letymbiotis, a spokesman for the government of Cyprus, posted on X on Monday that two unmanned aerial drones heading toward the RAF Akrotiri base have been shot down.
The British base was struck by an unmanned drone overnight that caused no casualties and limited damage. Shortly after the hit, Keir Starmer announced that the UK would allow the US use British military bases to attack Iranian missile sites.
Keir Starmer is receiving a fair amount of criticism from the left and the right over his handling of the conflict in the Middle East.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called Starmer’s decision to allow British bases to be used in war against Iran “a catastrophic and historic mistake” that “jeopardises the safety of us all.”
“Allowing British bases to be used in an illegal war of aggression is a catastrophic and historic mistake. Britain has been dragged into another war because our Prime Minister would rather appease Donald Trump than stand up for international law. War is not a game. This shameful decision makes Britain complicit in the devastating consequences ahead - and jeopardises the safety of us all.”
Allowing British bases to be used in an illegal war of aggression is a catastrophic and historic mistake.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) March 2, 2026
Britain has been dragged into another war because our Prime Minister would rather appease Donald Trump than stand up for international law.
War is not a game. This…
Meanwhile, opposition leader Kemi Badenoch has accused the Labour government of being too scared in the wake of last week’s by-election to voice support for the actions of the US and Israel.
“Iran’s regime has funded international terrorism, attacked British nationals, brutally repressed its own citizens calling for freedom and continues to try and develop a nuclear weapon. It should not be beyond our government to say they welcome the US-Israel taking action,” Badenoch posted on X.
Nigel Farage on Monday said Starmer’s position on the conflict as “pathetic”.
The Prime Minister was threatening not just Britain’s special relationship with the US but also with NATO, the Reform UK leader said.
Updated
Cyprus 'does not intend to be part of any military operation', Cypriot president says
More details are coming out about the drone that struck the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus overnight.
Officials believe the drone, which hit at about midnight local time, was launched before Keir Starmer announced the UK would allow the US to use its airbases to bomb Iranian missile sites, but it had not yet been publicly determined from where the drone was launched. It is believed that the drone caused no casualties and only limited damage.
NEW: MoD assessment is that the drone attack on Akrotiri base in Cyprus last night was launched before the PM’s statement - ie was not a retaliation for it.
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) March 2, 2026
Anti-drone measures had been stepped up at the base, the Ministry of Defence said, and family members of British military personnel have been asked leave to leave the base for their own safety. Residents in the vicinity of the base have been advised by the British base’s administration to shelter in place until further notice “following a suspected drone impact”.
The president of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, said on Monday morning made clear his country’s position in the conflict.
“I want to be clear: our country does not participate in any way and does not intend to be part of any military operation,” Christodoulides said in a statement.
More here:
Updated
Starmer faces greater quandary over ‘special relationship’ after Iran attack
It was perhaps naive of No 10 ever to position Keir Starmer as a “Donald Trump whisperer” capable of persuading the unpredictable US president to step back from reckless decisions.
The “special relationship” has been under severe strain in recent months over the UK’s decision to give up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands and the refusal of European countries to back Trump’s play for Greenland.
When it came to bombing Iran and assassinating its leader, Starmer appears to have had little influence on Trump, who went ahead regardless of the UK’s refusal to let the US use its military bases.
The prime minister now finds himself in the diplomatically precarious position of declining to endorse the strikes – which have won support from Canada and Australia – but also refusing to condemn them as many in his party would like to see him do.
'The UK is not at war': Middle East minister
Middle East minister Hamish Falconer made clear on BBC Scotland that while an “unmanned drone” had hit the runway at RAF Akrotiri, “the UK is not at war”, PA reports.
“Let me be really clear, the UK took a deliberate decision not to be part of the first wave of strikes conducted by the United States and Israeli governments,” Falconer said.
“But in the face of reckless attacks from Iran on a whole range of allies in the region – those are Gulf allies in which there are many, many UK nationals, probably 300,000 – ... we took the decision, as the prime minister announced last night, to support the US’s request to use our bases in order to conduct defensive actions.
“There are ballistic missile launches in Iran, pointed at the Gulf and it is vital that those missile launches are taken out in the face of these completely reckless attacks.”
'Simply not true' that UK is being pulled into escalating Iran conflict, Cooper says
When asked on Sky News if the UK was being dragged into another Iraq-style conflict in the Middle East, foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said: “That’s simply not true.”
“We took a very specific decision not to provide support for strikes that were taking place over this weekend. We have been clear that we believe there should be a diplomatic process, negotiations process,” Cooper said.
Read more here:
RAF airbase in Cyprus hit as Cooper defends decision to allow US to use UK bases for Iran strikes
Good morning and welcome to today’s live coverage.
Just hours after Keir Starmer said that the UK has allowed the US use British military bases to attack Iranian missile sites, the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus was hit by a suspected drone strike.
Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper, who has been making the rounds on the morning shows, confirmed the strike on the Akrotiri base but did not provide any more details. Cypriot authorities and the Ministry of Defence have said that there were no casualties and limited damage.
On BBC Breakfast, Cooper defended the decision to allow the US to use UK military bases, saying that the decision was purely “about defensive action around the Gulf.”
“We made a deliberate decision to not provide support for the US strikes that have been taking place over the weekend. We have continued to take the view that we wanted to see diplomatic progress and negotiated agreement around this threat from Iranian nuclear weapons,” Cooper said.
“But we also now face the situation where there are 300,00 estimated British citizens in other Gulf countries that are being targeted by Iranian missiles and drones.
“That is why we are providing support for defensive action. It’s important to say that the UK is not going to be involved directly in those strikes, but are providing support. This is about ballistic missiles and launches that are pointed at the Gulf. It is only about defensive action around the Gulf. It is not about support for any political or economic or broader infrastructure targets. There’s a clear difference there.”
The UK has agreed to a US request to use British military bases for "defensive" strikes on Iranian missile sites.
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) March 2, 2026
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told #BBCBreakfast about the 'specific and limited' agreementhttps://t.co/5r4no3SXqZ pic.twitter.com/xEeS5btZKV
For the latest on the Middle East, please follow The Guardian’s live coverage here.
Cooper fielded a number of questions about possible evacuation plans for the Britons in Gulf countries that are being hit. She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that they are working with the airlines, travel companies and local governments and are sending out rapid deployment teams to provide support for Britons in the region, some of whom are unable to return to the UK because of closed airspace and grounded flights. She said 102,000 British nationals have registered their presence in the region.
“We’re saying to people, the most important thing at the moment is to follow the local advice, which in most places is around sheltering in place, and we are sending out rapid deployment teams to the region to work with the travel industry, to work with local governments as well, to make sure that citizens can get support,” Cooper said on Sky News.
“Of course, we want people to get safely home as swiftly as possible.”
