Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer. AP
Starmer's statements came after the Israeli army, which is carrying out, along with the US, a war on Iran, claimed the Iranian regime posed “a global threat," claiming Iran’s missiles “can reach London, Paris or Berlin," without offering any evidence to back up its claim.
The Israeli claim was pushed after an attempted strike on the joint UK-US base on Diego Garcia – in the Chagos Islands – on Thursday night into Friday morning.
Diego Garcia is about 3,800km (2,360 miles) from Iran and home to an airbase capable of accommodating long-range US bombers.
"What we need here is de-escalation, and that’s why we had a statement from a number of countries last week about what we need to do about the Strait of Hormuz, which obviously needs careful coordination and a viable plan," added Starmer.
"But it’s very important we defend our interests, we defend British lives, but without getting dragged into the war, and that’s the clear divide I’ve put in place."
Short link: