Truce with Iran is not weakness but a strategic necessity

The past month has tested the Middle East to breaking point. Following US-Israeli strikes on Iranian targets at the end of February, Tehran attacked Gulf infrastructure and disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices have surged, global supply chains are strained, and households are feeling the squeeze at the petrol pump and on their energy bills.   

In such circumstances, the case for urgent de-escalation is overwhelming. Yet de-escalation must never mean disengagement.   

Britain’s interests, our allies’ security and the stability of the global economy demand a calibrated response that defends partners without being drawn into open war.  

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s decision not to commit British forces to direct offensive operations against Iran was not hesitation, but statecraft. The Labour government has acted with speed and purpose, deploying an additional Typhoon aircraft, helicopters and an air defense battery to protect Gulf partners in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. Royal Navy assets have been positioned to try to keep the strait open. UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has visited the region, the Cobra emergency committee has met repeatedly to manage the domestic cost-of-living fallout, and the Ministry of Defense has convened urgent roundtables to accelerate the supply of counter-drone systems and integrated air defenses. 

Britain remains a reliable friend amid global instability

Afzal Khan

These steps are modest in scale, but decisive in effect: They are protecting British bases, working to safeguard the 20 percent of world oil that passes through the Strait of Hormuz each day, and demonstrating to our partners in Europe and the region that Britain remains a reliable friend amid global instability.  

Such actions are not partisan improvization. They are the latest chapter in a long historic relationship. British and Gulf forces have trained and operated together for decades, from the liberation of Kuwait in 1991 to the campaign against Daesh. Joint counter-terrorism and intelligence work has thwarted plots in London, Riyadh, Dubai, and Manama.   

The Iranian threat may now wear new tactical clothing —  swarms of inexpensive drones, proxy militias, and hybrid attacks on shipping — but its strategic character is grimly familiar to every Gulf and British planner who has studied the region for the past 40 years.  

That is why Britain’s interests are best served by deeper, not narrower, regional relationships. Stronger ties with Egypt, Turkiye, and Pakistan offer essential strategic depth. Egypt anchors the Arab world’s most populous state; Turkiye is a NATO ally with real convening power; Pakistan is a nuclear power whose stability matters to the entire Islamic world.   

Any future diplomatic architecture that ignores these players will be as fragile as the 2015 Iran nuclear deal proved to be. That agreement was a technical success in limiting enrichment, but a strategic failure because it excluded the very states most exposed to Iran’s ballistic missiles, regional proxies, and destabilizing behavior. Gulf partners were not at the table; their legitimate security concerns were treated as an afterthought. The next agreement — if there is to be one — must be inclusive from the outset.  

The Gulf states have already shown they will not wait passively for others to guarantee their security. They remain loyal to their traditional Western partners, yet recent events have left an understandable sense of disappointment in some Gulf capitals: a perception that US policy has, at critical moments, elevated Israel’s immediate interests above the collective security and economic stability of the Gulf itself.   

This is precisely the moment for Britain to step forward as the dependable partner we have always been. The old rentier model, in which security was largely imported and oil rents funded everything else, is being quietly dismantled. Saudi Arabia is on track to meet half its defense needs from domestic production by 2030 and is already a serious manufacturer of land systems, autonomous platforms, and munitions. The UAE’s Edge Group, Qatar’s Barzan Holdings, Kuwait’s growing defense investments, and Bahrain’s integration into the Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement framework are all part of the same story: sovereign capability married to smart partnership.   

Gulf states have exercised remarkable restraint 

Afzal Khan

These states have exercised remarkable restraint in the face of direct Iranian aggression. They are trying to keep the strait open and are focused on the long-term prize — diversified, knowledge-based economies that can deliver prosperity for their young populations.  

Britain can and should do more to support them, through expanding joint training programs in Oman, deepening technology transfer and co-development agreements to help Gulf industries grow while creating high-skilled jobs at home, and we should offer to join responsible, multinational coalitions to secure the strait. We should use every diplomatic lever to bring Egypt, Turkiye, and Pakistan into a broader regional security conversation. History shows what is possible when Britain plays this role intelligently: The post-1991 security architecture that helped stabilize the Gulf for a generation was built on exactly such an inclusive partnership.  

Britain and Iran have had political relations since the 13th century. The current geopolitical landscape of Iran, Russia, and China against the West is a modern configuration — but is by no means permanent. Instead of pushing Iran further to the East, Britain can rebuild political ties and bring Iran back into the fold.   

De-escalation has become imperative, but will only endure if it rests on credible deterrence and genuine regional ownership. By standing shoulder to shoulder with Gulf allies at a time when trust in other partnerships has been strained, by recognizing how profoundly their defense and economic strategies have evolved, and by insisting that any new diplomatic settlement includes every major player with a stake in Gulf security, Britain can help turn the present crisis into the foundation of a more stable order.   

That is the Labour way: principled, pragmatic, and rooted in alliances that have served both our security and our prosperity for two centuries. In the weeks and months ahead, we must prove it once again.  

• Afzal Khan has been the Labour Member of Parliament since 2017 and is MP for Manchester Rusholme. He has held office as a Member of the European Parliament for North West England and as Shadow Foreign Office Minister. He has also served as Vice Chair of Security and Defense Committee from 2014 to 2017.