The Attorney General has blocked Britain from defending Israel from retaliatory strikes by Iran, it was claimed last night.
Despite the UK previously coming to the aid of its ally, Lord Hermer is said to have warned against intervention in the latest conflict, which began on Friday with Israel bombing its long-time enemy.
In October, the RAF helped shoot down Iranian missiles fired at Israel in a previous attack.
But there has been no British military involvement so far this time.
One Whitehall official told The Spectator magazine Lord Hermer, a human rights barrister and stickler for international law, was ‘acting as a restraining force’.
They said: ‘The Attorney General has concerns about the UK playing any role in this except for defending our allies.’
The Mail was last night unable to corroborate the claims.
It came as Britain feared being pulled into a Middle East conflict last night if Donald Trump goes to war with Iran.
The Attorney General Lord Hermer has allegedly blocked Britain from defending Israel from retaliatory strikes by Iran
A fire blazes in the oil depots of Shahran, northwest of Tehran, on June 15
The Iron Dome, the Israeli air defense system, intercepts missiles fired from Iran, over Tel Aviv on June 18
Sir Keir Starmer chaired a crisis meeting just hours after his return from the G7 summit of world leaders as the situation spiralled.
Defence chiefs and government officials also met to ‘wargame’ the UK’s response to a US intervention as Israel and Iran exchanged further missile strikes.
The COBRA meeting followed President Trump’s latest warning to Tehran that something ‘very big’ was going to happen in a matter of days if it did not accede to his demand for a total surrender.
Britain faces being dragged into the fight should the US request assistance or look to use its ‘bunker-busting’ bombs to attack Iranian nuclear facilities – such as the Fordow enrichment plant built 300ft within a mountain
Such missiles would be delivered by US B-2 stealth bombers which are routinely based at three locations: Whiteman Air Force Base in the US, RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and the joint UK-US base on Diego Garcia, in the Chagos Islands.
Sir Keir has put his Cabinet on alert for a possible US attack on Iran as one UK official told the Financial Times there was not a clear ‘yes or no’ answer to whether Washington would have to seek approval from Britain to use the Diego Garcia base.
Any such mission launched from British bases could see Iran attack UK military assets, with Tehran having threatened to strike those who join Israel.
An obvious target would be RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. The UK moved to improve aerial security there last week, sending six RAF Typhoon jets to join the eight already stationed there. These aircraft were mounting patrols of the surrounding airspace yesterday.
Sir Keir Starmer (pictured at the G7) chaired a crisis meeting just hours after his return from the G7 summit of world leaders as the situation spiralled
Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One after departing early from the the G7 summit
Sir Keir has been blindsided by President Trump’s suggestions that US forces could directly participate in Israel’s assault on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Speaking at the G7 summit in Canada on Tuesday afternoon, he told reporters that the President was not planning to bomb Iran, saying: ‘I don’t think anything that the President said either here or elsewhere suggests that.’
But 24 hours later he was forced to convene his emergency Cobra committee to discuss how Labour should respond if the US decides to attack Iran.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy was flying to Washington last night for talks with US secretary of state Marco Rubio, where he will today urge the US to ‘de-escalate’ the crisis.
On the White House lawn yesterday, Mr Trump sowed further confusion, telling reporters: ‘I may do it. I may not do it. Nobody knows what I’m going to do.’
He added: ‘Unconditional surrender, that means I’ve had it, that means no more. That means we go blow all the nuclear stuff. The next week is going to be big, very big, maybe less than a week.’
He claimed Tehran had ‘suggested’ talks in the White House, which he said was ‘courageous’, adding: ‘Iran’s got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate.’
That drew a furious response from the regime who shot back that ‘no Iranian official has asked to grovel at the gates of the White House’. Senior Israeli sources told Israel’s Channel 12 News that the US joining its offensive is ‘ not a question of if – but of when.’
Keir Starmer and Donald Trump speak to the media at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta
They said it was hard to see President Trump ‘pulling back at this stage’, believing he would want to ‘join the attack from a clearly advantageous position’.
Iran’s Supreme Leader warned the US yesterday of ‘irreparable harm’ and ‘all-out war’ should it enter the conflict.
In a televised address to the country’s 92 million citizens, Ayatollah Khamenei said Iran would ‘never surrender’ and ‘did not answer well to threats’.
Iranian officials suggested military reprisals would begin in neighbouring Iraq, where US troops are stationed, before broadening to other Arab countries.
Another option could be to mine the Strait of Hormuz – a waterway leading to and from the Suez Canal, disrupting international shipping and spiking oil prices.
Iran’s key strategic partner Russia also stepped up its involvement, warning US action could destabilise the Middle East.
A Kremlin spokesman said the world was ‘millimetres from catastrophe’ following Israel’s airstrikes on Iranian military facilities. China also accused America of ‘pouring oil’ on the conflict by ‘making threats’.
Iranian government aircraft were tracked yesterday afternoon flying south from Tehran to the Omani capital Muscat. As Israel has seized control of Iranian airspace, these flights were likely to have been approved in advance.
This photo released on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, shows Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a televised speech
Oman and Qatar were last night mediating for a ceasefire.
Last night, Downing Street remained tight-lipped about the outcome of the COBRA meeting, which also included contingency plans to evacuate thousands of UK citizens in Israel.
A No 10 spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister chaired a meeting this afternoon on the situation in the Middle East.
‘Ministers were updated on efforts to support British citizens in the region and to protect regional security and ongoing diplomatic efforts.’
