The political upheaval only seems to intensify after Major General Qassem Soleimani’s death. The Trump administration was allegedly warned against further escalation with Iran after President Donald Trump ordered the assassination of Soleimani.
The report comes soon after news of the airstrike broke out—which was reportedly launched without consulting US allies. And, the United Kingdom appears to be one of the first to react in regards to the attack. As per a recent media report, The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, on Friday maintained that the conflict with Iran “is in none of our interests” and urged “all parties to de-escalate.”
What more, Raab’s predecessor Jeremy Hunt addressed that Trump was reportedly “engaging in a very dangerous game of Chicken” with Iran, with both sides doing “increasingly extreme things”. The attack, which was carried without much discussion with the allies of the US, was damaging the relations between the two countries.
It appears that the warnings came from several European nations, with only Israel being in favor of Trump's decision. There have been major hints being dropped about the US being increasingly isolated on the world stage as a result of the attacks. Tom Tugendhat, Raab's Conservative Party colleague and the chair of Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee expressed their dismay at Trump’s decision to not keep them in the loop.
“The purpose of having allies is that we can surprise our enemies and not each other,” said Tugendhat. “It's been a pattern, sadly, which has been a bit of a shame, that the US administration of late has not shared with us and that is a matter of concern," he added.
Tugendhat addressed the UK’s disappointment in not having much of a say in whatever transpired. He also maintained that he would urge the US administration to share more with their allies. Clearly hinting at how “surprises” in the relationship were unwelcome, Tugendhat believed that the UK was shocked at not being consulted by the Trump administration before the assassination was carried out.
Aside from the increasing tensions between the state, what needs to be factored in is the imprisonment in Iran of the UK citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe on allegations of espionage. Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband expressed his concerns on “Good Morning Britain” on Friday. The family is reeling under the shock and really fears whether the attacks will affect Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release in some way or the other.
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