Foreign Secretary to meet US officials in Washington as Trump mulls over strikes against Iran

19 June 2025, 06:00 | Updated: 19 June 2025, 08:21

The Foreign Secretary is set to meet his US counterpart in Washington after Donald Trump said he was mulling whether to join Israeli strikes against Iran.

David Lammy and secretary of state Marco Rubio will discuss the Middle East as potential American involvement in the conflict looms.

It comes after Sir Keir Starmer convened a Cobra meeting of senior ministers on Wednesday to give updates on ongoing diplomatic efforts and UK support for British nationals in the region.

The high-level meeting came on the heels of his return from the G7 summit in Canada, at which he and other world leaders reiterated their "commitment to peace and stability".

But the US president, who left the summit a day early, told reporters outside the White House he was considering strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.

He said: "I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do."

Israel and Iran have been exchanging fire for days after air strikes, which Tel Aviv said were aimed at preventing Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.

Iranian officials insist the country's nuclear programme is peaceful, and claim Israel has caused hundreds of civilian casualties.

The group Human Rights Activists, based in Washington, said Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 639 people with 263 of them identified as civilians.

The Israeli military said Tehran and other areas of Iran were being targeted during the latest round of airstrikes on Thursday

Tensions are now ratcheting up between the US and Iran, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejecting Mr Trump's call for surrender and warning that any American military involvement would result in "irreparable damage" to the US.

Will the US strike Iranian nuclear sites? Simon Marks reacts

The Foreign Secretary's talks in Washington will cover the deteriorating situation in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine, as well as the UK-US trade deal, parts of which were finalised by Sir Keir and Mr Trump at the G7.

Meanwhile, nuclear talks with Iran and senior diplomats from the UK, Germany and France as well as the EU will take place in Geneva on Friday, a European official told the Associated Press.

In his comments outside the White House, Mr Trump had suggested the US could still hold talks with Iran.

"I can tell you this, Iran has got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate," he said.

He said "it's very late to be talking", but "we may meet".

If the US decides to go ahead with strikes, it could seek to use the joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia, which the UK would reportedly need to sign off on.

Under the recently agreed deal to hand back the Chagos Islands, the UK leases the base from Mauritius, while the US pays for its operating costs.

Sir Keir had played down the prospect of US intervention, telling reporters at the G7 that "nothing" he had heard from the president suggested Washington was poised to get involved.

Asked whether the Prime Minister was confident that Mr Trump would not involve US forces in the conflict, a Number 10 spokesman on Wednesday said the UK's position was still that "we want to de-escalate rather than escalate".

The US State Department has started evacuating non-essential diplomats and their families from the American embassy in Israel.

The US is also making plans for evacuation flights and ships for private citizens, the country's ambassador to Israel said.

The UK's Foreign Office has evacuated family members of embassy staff from Israel, but has not advised British nationals to leave the country.

The department said the evacuation was temporary and a "precautionary measure", with staff remaining at the embassy in Tel Aviv and the consulate in Jerusalem. Britons have already been advised against all travel to Israel and those already in the country have been urged to register their presence with the embassy.

The Foreign Office has also said land borders with Jordan and Egypt remain open, and consular teams are in position to provide assistance to British nationals who choose to leave Israel by land.

Minister for the Middle East Hamish Falconer said: "Our first job is to keep British nationals safe, and our dedicated teams in the region are working around the clock to do this.

"We are asking all British nationals in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories to register their presence so that we can share our updates with them and make sure we're giving them the best advice possible."