Britain was left embarrassed by France with Emmanuel Macron ordering an ‘unprecedented’ deployment to the Mediterranean and Middle East.
As the UK struggled to mobilise even a single warship, the French president put on a display of diplomatic power.
He set out plans for French vessels to protect the Strait of Hormuz trade route which Iran has closed, causing a blockade of the world’s oil and sending prices shooting up yesterday.
And he was warmly welcomed on Cyprus, where hundreds of British families at RAF Akrotiri have been forced to shelter from Iranian suicide drones.
While events played out on the international stage, Britain was once again left lagging behind yesterday. As Defence Secretary John Healey admitted another delay sending the destroyer HMS Dragon to the war zone, Mr Macron was hugged by his Cypriot counterpart on the tarmac after his presidential plane taxied to a halt at Paphos airport.
Mr Macron pledged to protect the 25-mile Hormuz Strait by sending a fleet of eight ships, where they are expected to join US forces – but only after ‘the end of the hottest phase of the conflict’.
In an apparent swipe at Keir Starmer as the Royal Navy stayed at home despite the drone strike on Akrotiri on the second day of the conflict, the French president said ‘an attack on Cyprus is an attack on all Europe’.
Meanwhile, the £1billion HMS Dragon will spend at least another two days in Portsmouth before setting off, Mr Healey said. She is then expected to take a week to reach Cyprus, by which point, Italian, French, Spanish and Netherlands ships could be in situ.
Greeting: Mr Macron and Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides in a a display of diplomatic power
Patriotic: Emmanuel Macron sings France’s anthem on aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in Cyprus
The RAF has intercepted drones from Iranian forces and proxies. Defence sources confirmed the engagements over Jordan and Bahrain last night.
The attack submarine HMS Anson is also understood to have been diverted from exercises in Australia to head for the Middle East.
But Downing Street sources were forced to dampen speculation that HMS Prince of Wales is to set sail for the Middle East.
The £3.5billion aircraft carrier had been placed on an advanced state of readiness, only for Mr Trump to tell the UK on Saturday: ‘We don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won!’
In other developments yesterday:
- The war threatened to push Britain into a new cost-of-living crisis with petrol, energy bills and mortgage rates all set to rise.
- Terrified residents of Tehran told the Daily Mail they feared the new hardline Ayatollah, Mojtaba Khamenei, would prove ‘just as bad as his father’.
- A US intelligence assessment from before the start of the war found military intervention alone was not likely to lead to regime change in the Islamic Republic.
- Putin offered his unwavering support to the new Supreme Leader and warned ‘the end of the world is upon us’.
- The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Iran’s dominant military, economic and political force – last night said oil tankers of any Arab or European country that expels the ambassadors of Israel and the US will, from today, be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
- Turkey’s defence ministry said Nato defences intercepted a ballistic missile that entered the country’s airspace after being fired by its former allies in Tehran.
- President Trump praised Australia after five members of the Iranian women’s football team were granted asylum after being branded ‘traitors’ for taking a stance against the regime.
- An audit of UK universities found 27 had seen students publicly mourn the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the war.
The French President also ordered French Navy ships to the Strait of Hormuz in an ‘unprecedented’ bid to combat skyrocketing oil prices.
He is set to deploy eight frigates, two amphibious helicopter carriers and the country’s flagship Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Middle East.
Macron said on Monday: ‘We are in the process of setting up a defensive, purely escort mission together with European and non-European states, with the purpose to enable, as soon as possible, the escort of container ships and tankers to gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz.’
The passage, through which 20 per cent of the world’s natural gas and oil flows, is almost completely closed after Iran vowed to fire on any passing ships.
It has seen the UK’s gas reverses dwindle from 18,000 GWh to just 6,700 GWh, with Britain now paying the highest wholesale gas price in Europe.
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Sir Keir Starmer has been criticised for his refusal to join the war effort against Iran
It comes amid mounting pressure on Sir Keir, who has steadfastly refused to join the war effort on Iran since it broke out on February 28.
That decision has led to a rift between the Labour leader and Trump, who dubbed the Brit ‘no Winston Churchill’ during a bombshell press conference last week.
The two figures held crisis talks on Sunday afternoon for the first time since fighting began after trading barbs over their conflicting stances.
In an astonishing outburst late on Saturday, Trump hit out at Sir Keir for agreeing defensive assistance only as Washington attacks Tehran alongside Israel.
He used his Truth Social platform to warn the US will ‘remember’ the lack of support from ‘our once great ally’ and suggested the PM was attempting to join a war after it had already been won.
In response, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper hit back saying ‘diplomacy through social media isn’t our style’ and said it was not in the UK’s interests to be ‘outsourcing our foreign policy’.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves later called for ‘de-escalation’ from both sides during a meeting at the House of Commons on Monday, in which she addressed fears that drivers could face record fuel prices.
The price of a barrel of oil has rocketed over $100 for the first time in years, with supplies threatened by attacks on infrastructure of major producers in the region.
Ms Reeves said she is ‘taking action to ensure that people pay the lowest possible price at the pump’, and also promised MPs would get a meeting focused on heating oil prices.
She added: ‘I recognise that households who use heating oil face unique challenges, and so I have asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury to lead discussions with officials and with rural and Northern Irish MPs to explore further action that we can take, and those meetings will happen on Wednesday.’
