Britain's Incoming Leader Faces a Day-One Decision on Backing US Strikes on Iran

The resumption of United States strikes against Iran has confronted Britain's incoming prime minister with an immediate and contested choice. The South China Morning Post reported that Washington is seeking access to British bases for its Iran campaign, placing Andy Burnham, newly installed as leader of the governing Labour Party, before a potential first-day decision on how far to support the United States.

The stakes of that choice are rising. Deutsche Welle reported that an Iranian general warned no border would be safe if American strikes continue past the coming days, and that Iran had threatened a full-scale offensive, even as the United States rejected Tehran's claim that two oil tankers exploded near the Strait of Hormuz.

Granting the United States use of British facilities would make the United Kingdom a direct party to a widening war and expose British assets in the region to retaliation. Refusing would strain the alliance at the moment Washington is asking for help. Neither option is cost-free, and Burnham inherits both without the time a new government would normally have to weigh them.

The episode shows how a conflict that began as a bilateral confrontation is drawing in Washington's allies, each forced to decide in public how much of the war to make its own.