Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has warned that Prime Minister Keir Starmer is recklessly endangering British lives by allowing UK military bases to support the U.S.-Israeli aggression against Iran, adding that the majority of the British public opposes such involvement.

In a post on X, Araghchi said that Starmer “is putting British lives in danger by allowing UK bases to be used for aggression against Iran.” During a phone call on Friday with his British counterpart, Yvette Cooper, the Iranian minister condemned the decision and said such actions “will certainly be regarded as participation in aggression.”

Araghchi also criticized Britain and other European countries for refusing to condemn attacks on Iran’s South Pars gas field while denouncing Iran’s subsequent retaliatory strikes. He reaffirmed Iran’s right to self-defense under Article 51 of the U.N. Charter.

Starmer had previously claimed he would not allow London to get dragged into the ongoing war against Iran, saying the British have learned from the “mistakes” in Iraq.

“We are not joining the U.S. and Israeli offensive strikes,” Starmer told the House of Commons on March 2. “It is my duty to judge what is in Britain’s national interest, and that is the judgement I made. I stand by it…We all remember the mistakes of Iraq, and we have learned those lessons. Any UK actions must always have a lawful basis and a viable thought-through plan,” he added.