Iran accused the United Kingdom on Monday of assisting US military operations against its territory by allowing American forces to use British bases, with Tehran demanding that London be held accountable for what it described as its role in military aggression against the Islamic Republic.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Tehran was aware that the United States had used British military facilities during the recent conflict with Iran, calling remarks by UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham acknowledging the arrangement an admission of Britain's involvement. "The British government must be held accountable for this," Baghaei said during an appearance on Iranian state television.
His comments followed a Bloomberg report published on July 21 stating that Burnham had authorized the United States to use British bases in England and on Diego Garcia, a UK-administered island in the Indian Ocean, to launch strikes against Iran. Tehran previously condemned the decision, arguing that it violated the UN Charter.
Baghaei also criticized Britain's move to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, describing the decision as a violation of international law and warning that Tehran would take unspecified retaliatory measures.
The renewed tensions come after US President Donald Trump declared on July 8 that the ceasefire reached with Iran on the night of June 18 was no longer in effect. Since then, US forces have carried out multiple strikes against Iran, with Washington saying the operations were a response to Iranian actions targeting commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran, in turn, launched strikes against US military bases in the Middle East and accused Washington of breaching the ceasefire agreement.
