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On March 1, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the UK had approved a US request to station British forces, such as those at RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia, to strike limited defensive blows against Iranian missile targets and launchers in the region and the Strait of Hormuz. Starmer justified this in order to avoid additional Iranian missile strikes on the allies of the Gulf, safeguard British citizens, and help maintain collective self-defense without the engagement of the UK in the first offensive.

The reaction by the foreign minister of Iran, Abbas Araghchi, in talks with the UK foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, was displeasing and was in the form of a warning that such authorization will be included in aggression participation and relations between the two countries will suffer. In one of his Telegram posts, he said that Iran is entitled to protect the sovereignty and independence of the country and that this was its right. The UK Foreign Office also responded with a threat to Iran not to attack British bases, interests, or territory in a direct manner.

This shift advances further UK involvement in the US-Israel-Iran conflict in terms of the fourth week as Trump seeks more allies in the context of blocked shipping routes and the escalation of the conflict. No Iranian retaliation was reported at the moment, but the threat of it increases.