British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is calling an emergency Cabinet meeting following reports of Iranian strikes aimed at the U.S.-U.K. joint military base on Diego Garcia, but the British government will be examining “cost of living” concerns, not “military considerations.”
The prime minister is convening a Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms meeting on Monday, a type of crisis briefing for the British government. His officials will be briefed on the economic threats posed by a drawn-out war in the Middle East with an emphasis on concerns such as disrupted energy supplies and volatile global markets.
“Obviously COBRAs are usually used for military considerations, consular considerations, but I think with the Iran war, most people are very concerned now,” Starmer said ahead of the meeting on Monday. “Not only what they’re seeing on their screens in relation to the conflict itself, but also that question of how is it going to affect me and my family?”
He continued: “So today we’re looking at the economic impact, and I am asking for every lever that’s available to the Government to deal with the cost of living to be discussed at COBRA. Hence, we’ve got the Bank of England and others there.”
Starmer’s explicit note that the COBRA meeting will not touch on “military considerations” is raising eyebrows, considering the fact that two intermediate-range ballistic missiles were reportedly fired by Tehran at the Diego Garcia base on Saturday, though one failed and the other was shot down.
It took more than 30 hours for British officials to confirm the incident, with Starmer then facing accusations of covering up the attack and questions of whether the homeland was a possible target.
“We carry out assessments all the time in order to keep us safe, and there’s no assessment that we’re being targeted in that way,” Starmer told the press on Monday.
The reported Diego Garcia strikes — which allegedly occurred after the U.K. authorized the U.S. to use the base — would mark a major escalation in Iran’s war strategy, demonstrating their capability of firing missiles with a 2,500-mile range.
The Islamic regime has withheld from using such weapons thus far, ostensibly to signal its lack of interest in endangering countries outside its own region.
Israel has asserted that the incident proves Iran is a “broader threat” than previously thought “with missiles that can reach London, Paris or Berlin.”
The British government maintains that this is inaccurate.
“There is no specific assessment that the Iranians are targeting the U.K. or even could if they wanted to,” U.K. Housing Secretary Steve Reed told BBC television on Sunday.
The Conservative Party has lambasted Starmer’s handling of the Iran troubles since the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury last month. The attacks on a British territory have only sharpened the Tories’ criticism as they assert the prime minister is hiding from a conflict already spilling onto the nation’s soil.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has voiced outrage at the delay between the Diego Garcia incident and the government’s acknowledgement, urging officials to “come clean” on the details of the attack.
Shadow Secretary of State for Housing James Cleverly told Sky News that “defensive action” becomes “military action” when “British nationals are being targeted, when our military bases our being targeted.”
Iran has denied involvement in the Diego Garcia incident, blaming the reports on an “Israeli false flag” operation meant to provoke the U.S. and U.K.
Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei cited NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s comments to CBS News on Sunday, in which he said that he “cannot confirm” the reports, as evidence of foul play.
“That even the NATO Secretary General (who is infamously pressing Alliance members to appease the U.S. and support their illegal war on Iran) declines to endorse Israel’s most recent disinformation, speaks volumes,” Baghaei said on Monday. “The world has grown thoroughly exhausted with these tired and discredited ‘false flag’ storylines.”
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The attention on Diego Garcia is likely frustrating for 10 Downing Street, which has for months tried to navigate a handover of the Chagos Islands to neighboring Mauritius. Diego Garcia is the largest island in the Chagos territory.
That deal, which Starmer maintains is necessary following an order from the International Court of Justice, would require the joint U.S.-U.K. military base on Diego Garcia to be leased moving forward — an arrangement President Donald Trump has firmly opposed on national security grounds.