UK defence and alliances ‘keep the UK safe’ insists minister after warning over threat of Iranian missiles
The UK has defence systems in place to keep safe from “any kind of attacks”, the defence secretary told the Commons after concerns were raised over the threat of long-range Iranian missiles.
John Healey said the government has the resources and alliances to protect Britain. It comes after Israel’s military warned that Iran’s intermediate-range ballistic missiles could potentially reach London, Paris or Berlin.
The alert was issued after Iran fired two missiles at the UK-US military base of Diego Garcia on the Chagos Islands on Friday.
“There is no assessment that we are being targeted in the UK in that way. We have the resources, we have the alliances in place in order to keep the United Kingdom safe from any kind of attacks,” Mr Healey said.
“We operate a layered defence of this United Kingdom – our Navy, our RAF (Royal Air Force), our Army, all involved. And of course, we operate our defence with other Nato allies.”
Meanwhile, Lib Dem MP Al Pinkerton asked the defence secretary to confirm how close the missiles came to Diego Garcia.
Mr Healey told MPs on Monday: “The missiles that were fired in the direction of Diego Garcia, as I’ve said, fell well short. One came down and one was brought down, well short.”
Mr Pinkerton added: “And what is the MoD’s [Ministry of Defence] assessment now about the effective strike range of Iran’s missile capacity? Does it stretch deep into Europe, and is the UK, even now, at risk?”
Mr Healey said he would not disclose “the specific capabilities of adversaries like Iran and what they hold”.
Some military experts have suggested that Britain could be left vulnerable if Iran did have the capacity to strike.
Professor Michael Clarke, who was director general of the Royal United Services Institute think tank, told The Independent that the UK’s only line of defence was its Sea Viper systems, which are carried on the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers and can counter ballistic missiles.
One of the six destroyers, the HMS Dragon, which has arrived in the eastern Mediterranean, while three others are in port and are effectively non-operational, Mr Clarke added.
As a member of Nato, Britain is also protected by the organisation’s Ballistic Missile Defence system, which includes sites in Poland and Romania. It also features four US Navy destroyers, which are better equipped than the Type 45 destroyers and can intercept the missiles.
Sir Keir Starmer told MPs on Monday that Britain must be prepared for the Iran war to continue “for some time”.
