Cooper Rejects Blair's Call to Back Trump Strikes on Iran

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has defended the government's cautious approach to the Iran conflict in an interview on BBC One's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, rejecting calls for the UK to have automatically backed initial US-Israeli strikes.

Cooper emphasised that Britain must make decisions based on its own national interest rather than unquestioningly following allies. "It's for the US president to decide what he thinks is in the US national interest, and that's for him to do. But it is our job as the UK government to decide what's in the UK national interest," she said. "That doesn't mean simply agreeing with other countries or outsourcing our foreign policy to other countries."

Her comments followed criticism from former prime minister Tony Blair, who argued at a private event that the UK should have supported Donald Trump's strikes from the beginning, describing the US as an "indispensable cornerstone" of British security. Cooper, who was a junior minister during the 2003 Iraq invasion, said it was "important to learn lessons from what went wrong" in that conflict, including "recognising that all our decisions need to be about what is right for British citizens."

The interview also addressed recent criticism from President Trump, who posted on social media that the UK was "joining Wars after we've already won." Cooper responded by distinguishing between those who advocate always agreeing with the US and those who would never cooperate, arguing neither approach serves British interests.

On the programme, Iranian ambassador Seyed Ali Mousavi warned the UK to be "very careful" about further involvement, stating that facilities used against Iran would become "legitimate targets." The UK has permitted US use of British bases for defensive strikes and deployed additional RAF jets to the region, but has not participated in offensive action.