{"id":837065,"date":"2026-03-19T22:11:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T22:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/837065\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T22:11:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T22:11:19","slug":"iranian-strikes-on-energy-sites-serious-escalation-of-conflict-says-john-healey-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/837065\/","title":{"rendered":"Iranian strikes on energy sites serious escalation of conflict, says John Healey \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Britain will \u201cstep up\u201d defensive support for Gulf states after Iran attacked energy sites across the region in a \u201cserious escalation\u201d of the war, the Defence Secretary has said.<\/p>\n

John Healey told the Press Association that Tehran\u2019s attacks overnight threatened to further destabilise the region as he reiterated the Government\u2019s call for de-escalation.<\/p>\n

Following an Israeli strike on its main natural gas field, Iran hit multiple energy sites across the Gulf last night, including a Saudi oil refinery, Qatari gas facilities and two more oil refineries in Kuwait.<\/p>\n

Oil prices jumped to 119 dollars per barrel on Thursday morning in the wake of the attack, before falling back slightly to 113 dollars, threatening higher global inflation amid concern about the security of the supply of fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

\"Why<\/a>\"Nigel<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking to PA on a visit to Dreghorn Barracks in Edinburgh, Mr Healey said the UK shared concerns about Iranian attacks.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThey\u2019re a serious escalation. They further destabilise the region and we will step up the defensive support that we can offer to those Gulf states.\u201d<\/p>\n

British forces are already deployed to the Middle East, with RAF jets flying defensive sorties against Iranian drones across the Gulf and British air defence systems protecting critical infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

UK military planners have also joined the US Central Command to help formulate proposals for opening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical trade route for the world\u2019s oil and gas.<\/p>\n

Mr Healey told PA: \u201cWe can see the impact here on the cost of living, the price of fuel, so it\u2019s important that we do everything we can with a lot of other countries that need to be involved in trying to reopen those straits.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that the best way of taking the pressure off world oil prices was \u201cto see a de-escalation and an end to the conflict\u201d.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer chaired a meeting of the Government\u2019s emergency Cobra committee on Thursday morning in response to the attacks overnight.<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister also spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron and the Nato secretary-general, Mark Rutte, to discuss what he called the \u201cegregious Iranian strikes\u201d as well as the formulation of a \u201cviable plan\u201d to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

\"\"(PA Graphics\/Press Association Images) <\/p>\n

Following the conversation, Sir Keir and the leaders of five other nations issued a joint statement condemning \u201cin the strongest terms\u201d Iranian attacks on shipping and oil and gas facilities, as well as the \u201cde facto closure\u201d of the strait.<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister and the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan said: \u201cWe express our deep concern about the escalating conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call on Iran to cease immediately its threats, laying of mines, drone and missile attacks and other attempts to block the strait to commercial shipping, and to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2817.\u201d<\/p>\n

Resolution 2817, approved on March 11, condemned Iran\u2019s attacks on its neighbours and called on Tehran to cease hostilities.<\/p>\n

The leaders also expressed their \u201creadiness to contribute to appropriate efforts\u201d to reopen the strait and take \u201cother steps to stabilise energy markets\u201d.<\/p>\n

Later, Sir Keir spoke to the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and again condemned the Iranian strikes, saying \u201csuch reckless attacks on critical infrastructure risk pushing the region further into crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n

A Downing Street spokesman said the two men also discussed defensive support for the Gulf, with Sir Keir saying the UK would \u201ccontinue to stand with Qatar and all our allies\u201d in the region.<\/p>\n

In a separate call with the Crown Prince of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, Sir Keir condemned the attacks on oil refineries there and \u201cshared his condolences for those who have lost their lives in Kuwait and reiterated the need for de-escalation\u201d.<\/p>\n

A No 10 spokesperson said: \u201cThe leaders agreed on the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz and to continue working together, including on defensive capabilities in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Britain will \u201cstep up\u201d defensive support for Gulf states after Iran attacked energy sites across the region in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":837066,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,22056,1102,4884,774,2819,807,39204,285,712,74677,16,15],"class_list":["post-837065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edinburgh","tag-britain","tag-cobra","tag-edinburgh","tag-great-britain","tag-iran","tag-john-healey","tag-keir-starmer","tag-pa-exclusive","tag-politics","tag-scotland","tag-strait-of-hormuz","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116258137094197174","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/837066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}