Sir Keir Starmer was informed the United States and Israeli strikes on Iran were “highly likely” weeks before they were launched, a former senior diplomat has revealed. Ameer Kotecha, who resigned from the Foreign Office this week after serving at the Tel Aviv embassy until last month, slammed the Prime Minister for not “doing enough” to ensure British security in the region with its foreknowledge. Mr Kotetcha disclosed Ambassador Simon Walters “was following Israeli intentions vis-a-vis Iran for weeks, and it was highly likely that the Israelis and the Americans were going to strike Iran”.He praised Mr Walters as “excellent” and “very well plugged into the Israeli system”, confirming the ambassador had been “reporting those conversations back to London, as is his job and as you would expect”.
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These dispatches had landed on Downing Street desks “for weeks before the first missiles, the first American strikes, I should say, happened”.Despite the significant advanced warning, Mr Kotecha expressed astonishment that HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer capable of intercepting ballistic missiles, remained docked at Portsmouth rather than being dispatched to the region before hostilities commenced.”They didn’t do enough,” he said, despairing the vessel arriving “two weeks after it’s needed”. Sir Keir announced on Tuesday the warship would be sent to defend Cyprus following a drone strike on the sovereign base. Yet the vessel is not scheduled to depart Portsmouth until next week, as time is required to prepare the crew for the mission and rearm. “Ultimately, that’s with the Prime Minister, with the Foreign Secretary and with the Attorney General. It’s the politicians that make those really big calls, so I don’t want to blame the officials for that decision, but I was surprised,” the former diplomat told Sky News. Mr Kotecha attributed the Government’s inadequate response partly to years of diminished military investment, arguing Britain’s armed forces have been hollowed out at precisely the wrong moment.”It was poor planning on the part of the Government. But I think, yes, if you boil it down, what it really comes to is we haven’t invested enough in our military capabilities,” he said.LATEST DEVELOPMENTSBritish Muslim charity issues ‘condolences’ to slain Ayatollah amid plans for major Islamic centreRAF missions have been available for all to see for years as ‘staggering’ security blunder exposedBBC sparks row after altering Pete Hegseth speech – just months after doing the same to Donald Trump“We’ve allowed them to be whittled down at precisely the moment that the world is in its most dangerous place in decades. So I would like to see our defence spending ramp up.”The former diplomat also criticised ministers for being “beholden in many ways to a very rigid interpretation of international law”. Mr Kotecha was not alone in his criticism of the Prime Minister’s response, Last week, Donald Trump said he was “not happy” with the UK.Hitting out at his apparent flakiness, the US president said Sir Keir “not Winston Churchill”. A Government spokesman defended the handling of the crisis, stating defensive assets had been moved to Cyprus and Qatar during January and February.”As the prime minister outlined, the UK moved defensive assets to Cyprus and Qatar in January and February, including fighter jets, air defence missiles and advanced radar, to ensure we were in a heightened state of readiness in advance of any conflict beginning,” the spokesman insisted.The Government added jets were scrambled immediately when strikes commenced and that military reinforcements were being sent to Cyprus.”This Government’s priority remains the safety of British nationals in the region and reaching a negotiated settlement on Iran,” the spokesperson concluded.Britain had also deployed approximately 400 additional military personnel to the region, including ground-based air defence teams.The Government has also begun to permit US jets to launch sorties against the Islamic regime from UK bases. A fleet of US B-2 stealth bombers is soon expected to arrive at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, the same aircraft used to “obliterate” Iran’s nuclear facilities during Operation Midnight Hammer in June.B-1 bombers have already touched down at the base, with photographs showing the supersonic jets landing in Britain. Our Standards:
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