UK moves warplanes to Middle East amid Iran crisis

ON BOARD THE UK PM’s PLANE, United States: Britain is deploying fighter jets and other “assets” to the Middle East amid an escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday.

“We are moving assets to the region, including jets, and that is for contingency support,” Starmer told reporters travelling with him on his plane to Canada for G7 talks.

The UK leader said he had spoken with both US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since Israel launched attacks on Iranian military and nuclear sites early Friday.

According to officials, dozens of people have been killed, including top army and Revolutionary Guards commanders as well as civilians.

Iran has responded with barrages of drones and missiles fired at Israel overnight Friday into Saturday.

Starmer said the situation was “fast moving” and “intense”.

“We’re having ongoing discussions with our allies all of the time, both myself and (foreign minister) David Lammy... who also spoke to the Iranians,” he said.

“Our constant message is de-escalate, and therefore everything we’re doing, all discussions we’re having are to do with de-escalation.”

The UK leader said his talk on Friday with Netanyahu had been “good and constructive” and had “included discussions about the safety and security of Israel”.

Foreign Secretary Lammy said earlier Saturday that he was “alarmed” by further strikes overnight.

“We must urgently de-escalate & prevent any further harm to civilians,” Lammy said in a post on social media, adding that he had spoken to his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi “to urge calm”.