This is a key moment in the war on Iran – and Starmer must resist the UK being dragged into it any further |
Is this the turning point? A deranged US president and an Israeli prime minister facing prosecution are seeking to entice the armies of the world into the stupidest war of the 21st century. Israel’s strike this week on Iran’s South Pars gas field was clearly meant to provoke an Iranian retaliation so massive as to ensure a ferocious response from Donald Trump. Thus escalation beckons. This is how small wars become big.
There is only one way of calling a halt. It is for Trump and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu to stop bombing Iran. Yet both leaders clearly see themselves as trapped. Trump, having already claimed to have won the war, now feels lonely. Though he has amassed the largest aggressive force of modern times, he pleads with his one-time allies to come and give him moral support. But Trump started this war. He must face the wound to his pride that may go with stopping it. He must then complete the harder task of getting Israel also to stop.
Meanwhile, Britain should play no part at all. Its security is not remotely threatened. Whatever evil Iran poses to British interests, war is no response. Nor is it Britain’s duty to judge and replace foreign regimes, a task at which its recent record is deplorable. How to contain modern terrorism may be a longstanding challenge, but aerial bombardment offers........