Britain reinforces that US cannot use British bases for attacks on Iran.

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

In the face of threats by President Donald Trump to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages,” the British government on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Keir Starmer remained opposed to American use of British bases for anything other than defensive purposes.

During a media briefing with journalists, the prime minister’s spokesperson declined to say whether British officials had explicitly told the United States not to launch attacks from their territory on civilian targets in Iran like bridges or energy facilities, attacks Trump has threatened.

But the spokesperson said the prime minister had not changed his mind on the previous limits placed on American bombers taking off from British bases, including from RAF Fairford, in a quiet corner of southern England, where B-52 and B-1 bombers have been loaded with munitions before setting off for Iran.

Those limits have enraged Trump, who has spent the past several weeks accusing Starmer of cowardice, belittling the capabilities of the British armed forces, and threatening to take the United States out of NATO in retaliation for what he calls a lack of support by allies in the war against Iran.

Starmer has insisted that Britain will not join “regime change from the skies,” saying that people in his country do not want a repeat of the government’s support of the United States during the war in Iraq in 2003.

But in an attempt to mollify Trump, the prime minister gave permission to American bombers to attack missile launchers in Iran that were being used to attack British facilities in the Middle East. Starmer later expanded that permission to include Iranian targets that were attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

That compromise does not appear to have worked with Trump, who on Monday compared Starmer to Neville Chamberlain, the former British prime minister who tried to appease Adolf Hitler before World War II.

The president has also mocked the British navy, calling its ships “toys.” And he has said that Britain and other nations in Europe should secure the Strait of Hormuz by themselves, without help from the United States.

The British military is hosting a discussion Tuesday with counterparts from about 40 governments to discuss military options to secure the strait once the war between Iran, the United States and Israel ends.

Britain’s Defense Ministry said the closed-door meeting was designed to create practical solutions to ensure that shipments of oil, natural gas, fertilizer and other goods will eventually be able to travel through the strait without fear of attacks.