Starmer is angering all sides with his dithering on Iran. He must act

We didn’t start this, but the UK must make some effort to finish it rather than just wringing our hands Daily Telegraph Ben Wallace 02 March 2026 7:29pm GMT I remember sitting in the president of Iran’s outer office in 2006. I had gone with Jack Straw, Lord Lamont and Jeremy Corbyn on a parliamentary visit. All of us had different positions on the regime, and a more unlikely foursome you couldn’t imagine. The regime showed us no favours. In fact, they delighted in trying to trap us into embarrassing situations while they lectured us on the British Empire and James Bond.

In those days, there was a genuine tension between the Iranian hardliners and the so-called reformers. There was even a semblance of an internal challenge to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Sadly, all that has changed over the years. The hardliners strengthened their grasp. Despite the image of the mullahs being in charge, it has become ever more apparent that the IRGC, which was loyal only to the deceased Supreme Leader, Khameini, has almost entirely taken over the country and its rich assets. A military run by religious fanatics determined to export revolution across the region was always going to smash into reality. Violence begets violence. Now that very office I sat in is a pile of rubble. It seems clear that the goal of President Trump is regime change. But if there were a manual for regime change, it would start with identifying a credible opposition and then a prolonged process of training, equipping and enabling that opposition’s eventual march to power. As we know from Russia’s behaviour over the last few years, division is easy to cultivate – especially in open and liberal democracies – but a wholesale swap of power is much harder. It is especially hard with a regime that has normalised the oppression of its own people for more than 47 years. As I write, and despite the deaths of Iran’s Supreme Leader and significant military leadership, there is no real sign of the regime being challenged by an organised opposition. Despite the early military success of the US and Israel, I would assess that none of the regime change groundwork has been done. Donald Trump has probably found himself pressured into action by Benjamin Netanyahu and some in the White House who see Iran as similar to Venezuela. Now we have a situation where the US is systematically working through its target list at the same time that Iran is doing the same. Iran’s stocks of low-tech but deadly drones are huge, and it still has many ballistic missiles which are much harder to defend against. The regime now believes it has nothing to lose. It is now in a fight for survival. It will lash out and use all its proxies and all the terror tactics it can. Don’t be surprised if this washes up on our streets as well. I suspect this conflict will be longer than many suspect. This is a very uncomfortable and dangerous position for the UK and our Gulf allies to be in. We can disagree or agree with the US’s initial attacks all we like. No doubt lawyers will indulge in hours of analysis, but that won’t change the position we are in now. Not for the first time the Labour Government needs to face the world as it is, not as it wishes it to be. The PM needs to decide what is in the UK’s interest and what we are going to do about it. He needs a plan and he needs to communicate it. He needs to lead. He needs to set out a narrative that can reassure us. Above all else, Sir Keir finally needs to invest in our own defences, the one action that can really make a difference and give us some options. I have every sympathy for the Government at the moment. There is no obvious path to take. We have to be brutal in our honesty, and ask ourselves if, in reality, there can really be a way back to the negotiating table. I weep no tears for the deceased Supreme Leader but a decapitated nation is unlikely to come to any table soon. We didn’t start this, but the UK must make some effort to finish it rather than just wringing our hands. We have little choice.