LONDON(RAHNUMA): British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the king of Bahrain that four jets the UK is deploying to Qatar could be used to help defend the kingdom from Iranian missile and drone strikes against Gulf states.
“The Prime Minister also offered further defensive air cover from these jets for Bahrain to bolster their security,” Starmer told King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in a call late on Thursday, according to a readout from Starmer’s office on Friday.
“His majesty welcomed the confirmation, and they agreed operational teams would work together on plans in the coming days.”
The British ambassador to Bahrain said the UK would be part of “defending” Bahrain by having the RAF fighter jets flying over the island.
“Today, I’m delighted to tell to people that the UK will be flying RAF jets above Bahrain as a contribution to the defense of Bahrain, one of our closest allies in the whole world,” Ambassador Alastair Long said.
“This matters hugely to the UK that we are part of defending Bahrain and making sure it prevails in this terrible attack against it by Iran.”
Starmer said on Thursday he was sending four more RAF Typhoon fighters to Qatar following requests from allies for further help.
The four Typhoon planes will join an existing UK squadron in the Gulf state “to strengthen our defensive operations in Qatar and across the region”, Starmer told reporters.
The announcement came as Defence Secretary John Healey visited Cyprus following a drone strike on a UK air base on the Mediterranean island earlier this week.
An Iranian-made unmanned drone struck a hangar at the RAF base at Akrotiri on Monday.
Two further drones detected that day were shot down by British warplanes.
Starmer said two Wildcat helicopters armed with Martlet missiles that can take down drones will arrive in Cyprus on Friday.
Starmer has also deployed HMS Dragon, a Type 45 air defense destroyer able to launch eight missiles in under 10 seconds and guide up to 16 missiles simultaneously.
It is not due to set sail until next week however, according to officials.
Starmer has faced criticism from the opposition Conservative party that he has been too slow to deploy resources to the region.
The premier insisted that throughout January and February the government has moved fighter jets, air defence missiles and advanced radar systems to the region.
UK Typhoon and F-35B jets have been operating in the Middle East since the war began on Saturday with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Starmer initially refused to have any role in the US-Israeli war with Iran but later agreed to a US request to use two British military bases for a “specific and limited defensive purpose”.
Those bases are in Gloucestershire, western England, and the UK-US Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean.
Starmer has insisted that the Akrotiri base is not being used by US bombers.
Monday’s drone strike there caused minimal damage and no casualties, British officials said.
*AFP, AP and Reuters
