Trump slams UK PM for not backing US-Israel strikes on Iran

US President Donald Trump has hit out at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for not supporting the American-Israeli strikes on Iran and stated that “the relationship is obviously not what it was”.

Trump told The Sun newspaper that Starmer was not “helpful”.

Also read: Where do major nations stand with Trump-Netanyahu on Iran?

“He has not been helpful. I never thought I’d see that. I never thought I’d see that from the UK. We love the UK,” Trump said.

“It’s a different world, actually. It’s just a much different kind of relationship that we’ve had with your country before. It’s very sad to see that the relationship is obviously not what it was,” he added.

What Starmer told UK Parliament

On Monday (March 2), Starmer defended his decision not to join the US-Israel strikes on Iran over the weekend, saying his Labour Party government did not believe in “regime change from the skies”.

Also read: Netanyahu: Attacked because Iran's nuclear programme would have been 'immune within months'

Starmer was updating Parliament on his earlier announcement that the United Kingdom (UK) had granted permission for the Americans to use British bases for "limited defensive purpose” in West Asia.

His statement to MPs in the House of Commons came after Trump said he was “very disappointed” that the UK Prime Minister took “far too long” to change his mind over the use of British bases.

“This government does not believe in regime change from the skies,” Starmer told the Commons.

‘Lessons from Iraq’

“The United Kingdom was not involved in the initial strikes on Iran by the US and Israel. That decision was deliberate. We believe that the best way forward for the region and for the world is a negotiated settlement in which Iran agrees to give up any aspirations to develop a nuclear weapon and ceases its destabilising activity across the region.

“That has been the long-standing position of successive British governments. President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial strikes, but it is my duty to judge what is in Britain’s national interest. That is what I’ve done, and I stand by it,” he said.

Starmer, a former barrister, repeatedly referred to the need for a "lawful basis" and a "viable, thought-through plan" before committing British forces into action. "That is one of the lessons from Iraq,” he stressed.