{"id":30136,"date":"2026-03-21T21:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T21:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/30136\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T21:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T21:25:09","slug":"now-even-starmer-must-realise-that-tehran-has-to-be-disarmed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/30136\/","title":{"rendered":"Now even Starmer must realise that Tehran has to be disarmed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s hesitant, legalistic approach to the war in Iran has repeatedly left Britain vulnerable. Direct attacks on the RAF airbase at Akrotiri<\/a> and on British soldiers deployed in Iraq have failed to shake the Prime Minister from his complacency, with the Government unwilling to offer greater support to the United States and Israel. The attempted missile attack on the Diego Garcia airbase should surely mark an end to this apathy.<\/p>\n

The assumption underlying so much of the Government\u2019s approach to handling Tehran has been that its missiles \u2013 and by extension its nuclear programme \u2013 are ultimately an issue for countries less geographically favoured than the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n

This has now been shown to be false. While neither of the medium-range ballistic missiles launched struck their target, the attempt to strike a place 2,400 miles away from Iran demonstrated that Tehran\u2019s range is effectively double that previously believed, potentially putting London in reach.<\/p>\n

Sir Keir Starmer and his Government did not deign to inform the British public<\/a> of the failed missile strike, with the news instead being broken by the American press. It is still unconfirmed precisely when the attack took place. However, it is now known that it occurred before Friday\u2019s statement finally giving the United States permission to strike Iranian missile sites from UK airbases. This is, at least, some indication that the Government is belatedly recognising that this threat must be countered. Matters should not have reached this point before it did so.<\/p>\n

It is hard to think of a combination of circumstances that could have cast Sir Keir\u2019s handling of Iran in a worse light. It should now be clear to all that this is a legitimate defensive war, aimed at preventing Tehran further enhancing its missile capabilities or developing nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n

Just last month, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi had claimed that his country had limited its missile range to around 1,200 miles. This statement was false, or at least meaningless given the regime\u2019s ability to increase range drastically by varying payloads, and should be front of mind when the credulous take at face value assurances issued by Iranian officials. If they are being disingenuous about missiles, why should we assume they would not equally be so about their nuclear programme?<\/p>\n

We should recall the warning issued by Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy, that Iran\u2019s negotiators claimed to be in possession of the materials for the construction of 11 nuclear weapons. In the absence of decisive military action, Tehran would have continued on a path towards obtaining nuclear capabilities. It clearly has the range to strike at European nations, including the UK<\/a>, at least for limited payloads.<\/p>\n

Dismantling Tehran\u2019s nuclear and missile programmes is an essential prerequisite for peace. The US and Israel should continue military operations until these objectives are achieved. The United Kingdom, meanwhile, should consider carefully where it stands.<\/p>\n

The attack on Diego Garcia has once again directed attention to the threadbare nature of Britain\u2019s air defences, and the woeful underfunding of our naval fleet. We rely on geography to guard us from lesser risks, and the Trident nuclear deterrent from major ones. Yet the first factor no longer applies, and the second is no answer to conventional threats.<\/p>\n

We must invest urgently in air defences, and in rectifying the consequences of decades of underinvestment in equipment across the Armed Forces. Plans for spending to reach 3 per cent of GDP in the 2030s, or possibly 2029, are manifestly inadequate to the needs of the hour. Many capabilities that Britain possesses on paper appear to exist there only.<\/p>\n

We should offer far greater support to the Israeli and US effort to defang the Iranian regime. Our limited participation in defensive efforts, and our unwillingness to allow the unrestricted use of British bases, has tied up valuable forces and hindered operations. Yet it is now undeniable that it is in Britain\u2019s security interests to see Iran\u2019s missile and nuclear programmes brought to an end.<\/p>\n

Britain should take this threat seriously. While direct strikes understandably focus the mind, Tehran has repeatedly made its hostile intentions clear. A regime that has openly sponsored terrorists around the world, faced with overwhelming military force, is now warning the West that \u201cparks, recreational areas and tourist destinations anywhere in the world will no longer be safe for you\u201d. A country that has attempted murders and kidnappings on British soil, threatened cyber attacks against British companies, and spied on British citizens is now openly threatening the UK. It would be naive to assume it will not lash out in this manner again.<\/p>\n

The best and fastest way to end this threat is through the military action the coalition is undertaking in Iran. That same military action is also necessary to end the threat posed by Iranian missiles, and to free the flow of oil and gas through the Hormuz Strait once more.<\/p>\n

There is no appetite for direct British involvement in this conflict<\/a>, but we should still do all we can to assist the coalition in its efforts. And we should take heed of the implications of this war for our own domestic security. The era of the peace dividend is over; we must beat ploughshares into swords.<\/p>\n

Try full access to The Telegraph free today. Unlock their award-winning website and essential news app, plus useful tools and expert guides for your money, health and holidays.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s hesitant, legalistic approach to the war in Iran has repeatedly left Britain vulnerable. Direct attacks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1793,14143,13802,34,688,6298,5507,14142,269,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-30136","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tehran","8":"tag-ballistic-missiles","9":"tag-british-soldiers","10":"tag-diego-garcia","11":"tag-iran","12":"tag-keir-starmer","13":"tag-missile-attack","14":"tag-missile-strike","15":"tag-nuclear-capabilities","16":"tag-nuclear-weapons","17":"tag-tehran"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116269280407108960","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}