UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer says the country has agreed to a US request to use British military bases for “defensive” strikes on Iranian missile sites.

But the prime minister said the UK had learned lessons from the mistakes of Iraq, and was not involved in the initial strikes on Iran and will not join offensive action now.

It was gathered that the US is likely to use RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for strikes on Iranian missile sites.

The PM made the announcement just hours before a British RAF base in Cyprus was hit by a drone strike on Sunday night with no casualties reported. Investigations are under way to establish where it was fired from.

The attack at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus took place at around midnight local time (22:00 GMT) with the MoD later saying that “minimal damage” was caused.

In a video statement released earlier, Sir Keir said the basis of the decision to accept the US request was the collective self-defence of allies and protecting British lives, accusing Iran of pursuing a scorched-earth strategy.

The prime minister added the US would use UK bases for the specific and limited defensive purpose of destroying Iran’s missiles at source.

He added that the move was in accordance with international law, and the UK government had published what it said was a summary of its legal advice.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused the government of being “too scared” to take a stronger stance against Iran because some Labour voters were “swayed by conflicts in the Middle East, not the British national interest”.

“So we watch our prime minister and cabinet ministers squirm and obfuscate in interviews, because they cannot say what needs to be said because too many of their voters do not want to hear it.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said “the UK must not be complicit in illegal military action” and demanded that MPs be given a say on allowing the US to use British bases.

It was reported last month that the British government had not given permission for the US to use UK military bases to support any potential US strikes on Iran.

US President Donald Trump said it “may be necessary” for the US to use RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia for operations should Iran “decide not to make a deal”.