The Iran war: What should Britain’s role be?
Britain, understandably, views the conflict from further away. But distance should not be mistaken for immunity
Watching from my bomb shelter in Israel as the British government struggles to articulate a coherent response to the US-Israeli war against Iran, I understand the instinct behind the hesitation. The use of military force should always be the last resort. For a country like Britain, where the wars in the Middle East shape political debate, scepticism about war is both understandable and healthy.
But the dilemma facing liberal democracies is rarely as simple as war versus peace. More often, it is a choice between confronting a threat now or living with far greater consequences later.
Two recent opinion polls reveal how differently this war is being experienced.
In Britain, a YouGov poll shows deep scepticism about the conflict. Nearly half of Britons oppose US and Israeli military action against Iran, while only around 28% support it. Economic concerns also loom large, with 74% expecting the war to harm their household finances.
In Israel, the picture could hardly be more different. According to the Israel Democracy Institute, 93% of Jewish Israelis support the military operation against Iran, including large majorities across the political spectrum.
The reason is proximity to the threat.
For Israelis, Iran is not an abstract geopolitical issue debated on television panels. It is a regime that has spent decades building what it has called a “ring of fire” around Israel: arming Hezbollah in Lebanon, backing Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and developing ballistic missiles and nuclear capabilities aimed squarely at the Jewish state. Its leaders openly called for Israel’s destruction.
For many Israelis, the current war is not a choice but a last resort.
Britain, understandably, views the conflict from further away. But distance should not be mistaken for immunity.
A 2025 research briefing from the UK Parliament warned that Iran poses a “wide-ranging, persistent and unpredictable threat” to Britain itself. Iranian intelligence networks have been linked to espionage, cyber activity and assassination plots targeting dissidents, journalists and Jewish or Israeli interests on British soil.
MI5 has said it has responded to more than 20 Iran-backed plots posing potentially lethal threats in the UK since 2022, including attempts to kidnap or kill individuals living in Britain.
This matters because it reveals something fundamental about the Islamic Republic: its ambitions do not stop at its borders.
For two decades, the instability across the Middle East has been driven by Iranian expansionism through proxy militias, ideological networks and weapons proliferation. From Lebanon to Yemen, these forces have prolonged wars, weakened states and trapped millions of civilians in cycles of violence.
Yet paradoxically, the weakening of this system through this war could potentially open the door to something different.
Across the region, from Gulf states on the receiving end of Iranian missiles and drones, to parts of the Iranian diaspora, there is a clear recognition that the Islamic Republic’s strategy of confrontation has brought little but isolation and suffering. We can imagine a Middle East no longer dominated by proxy warfare and create space for something else: economic cooperation, regional integration and perhaps even the fragile beginnings of peace.
This is, admittedly, an optimistic vision. But history reminds us that moments of upheaval can create unexpected opportunities.
The question is not whether war is tragic. Of course it is. The real question is whether the alternatives are better.
That is a dilemma Britain understands well. Liberal democracies have long wrestled with when force becomes necessary, from confronting fascism in the 1930s to stopping genocide in the Balkans. The hardest lesson is that sometimes the cost of inaction can be greater than the cost of action.
Israel learned that lesson the hard way on 7 October. After years of inaction from our leadership, the Iranian-backed terrorist army, Hamas, breached our borders and massacred 1200 people.
None of this means British citizens must embrace war. A liberal instinct to question military intervention is healthy and necessary. But liberalism also requires confronting authoritarianism honestly.
The Islamic Republic is not simply another government with which one disagrees. It represses its own people, exports violence abroad and has demonstrated its willingness to pursue opponents even on British streets.
That is why the debate unfolding in Britain matters.
Over the weekend, demonstrations in London framed the conflict as a simplistic struggle between aggressor and victim, echoing narratives promoted by the very extremists who have fuelled the region’s instability. Allowing those voices to dominate risks obscuring the real stakes.
Britain can play a constructive role, not by more war planes or battleships, but by first helping bring the war to an end, and then in shaping what comes next.
Diplomatically, the UK remains one of the few countries potentially able to engage Washington, European partners, Gulf states and actors connected to Tehran. It should use that position to help broker a responsible end to the fighting, paired with credible limits on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, missile programmes and proxy networks.
But ending the war must be only the first step.
The deeper opportunity is to help build a regional architecture that replaces confrontation with cooperation, expanding economic partnerships, strengthening regional security frameworks and supporting a future in which the Iranian people themselves are no longer trapped by a regime built on confrontation.
Handled wisely, the end of this war could mark more than the conclusion of a military campaign. It could become the beginning of a more stable Middle East.
Britain cannot create that future alone. But it can help lead the conversation that makes it possible.
Because the debate about this war should not be reduced to slogans shouted on the streets of London. It requires a serious conversation about security, democracy and the difficult choices facing liberal societies.
Britain has always been at its best when it faced those choices with clarity, and with courage. Now is the time for courage.
Keep community journalism free.
Jewish News is free for everyone. No paywall. No barriers. Just trusted journalism for anyone who wants to stay connected to Jewish life in Britain.
If you value that, please support us.
From as little as £5 a month, you can help keep our journalism free and accessible to all.
Every day, we report on the issues that matter to our community. We celebrate achievements, support charities, challenge antisemitism and ensure Jewish voices are heard more widely.
From as little as £5 a month, you can help us continue to:
- Report on the stories shaping Jewish life in the UK and beyond
- Bring our community together through shared stories, events and campaigns
- Celebrate the people, culture and moments that define our community
- Support organisations doing vital work across Jewish Britain
You can make a one-off donation or become a regular supporter. Every contribution helps keep our journalism free, independent and accessible to all.
If everyone who values Jewish News gave a small amount, it would make a real difference to our future.
