Sir Keir Starmer may not have military might, but he has diplomacy - and MI6 - at his disposal
Sir Keir Starmer’s well-publicised phone call to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday evening made excellent public relations
The UK certainly has good reasons to want to influence Iran. This is partly because of the wider economic fallout – any conflict would cause a huge spike in the price of oil, for example, that could send inflation soaring. It is American might that has called shots in the region and beyond – and that is long before British armed forces were so badly mauled by a succession of savage defence cuts .
And even if this current crisis is defused, our secret services will continue to have some effect on Tehran’s actions. The Iranians are smuggling arms to their Houthi allies in Yemen, who have proven their ability to disrupt international shipping in the Red Sea – one of the world’s most important, and congested, maritime lanes. The eyes of our intelligence services will also surely be trained on Iran’s extensive sanctions-busting activities, not least the.
Meanwhile, the UK’s own “special relationship” with Washington means our government plays a unique role in US decision-making. We are in a position to counsel caution, and perhaps forestall any actions that might provoke an unnecessary Iranian response and escalate beyond control.
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