The MP was told LBC that the UK has a notable presence in the region and that "we might end up having to defend ourselves" if we get "dragged into" the international conflict.
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Dame Emily Thornberry has told LBC that she "doesn't think that there's a legal justification" for Saturday's joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, as she called on the UK government to "call out" actions.
Speaking on Saturday, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, told LBC that the joint strikes would see the region "profoundly destabilised" as she insisted she was "glad the UK are not involved".
"My overall reaction is I am very worried indeed about it," Dame Emily Thornberry told LBC's Paul Brand on Saturday.
"I don't think that there's a legal justification for it," she insisted. "And right now we don't know what the Iranian reaction is going to be.
It comes as Israel and the US launched 'co-ordinated' attacks on Iran on Saturday morning, with the operation – dubbed "Operation Epic Fury" by the US – including low-flying Tomahawk missiles deployed from US warships in the region.
Explosions rung out across the Middle East on Saturday as Iran targeted US military bases in retaliation to the strikes.
Pushing Sir Keir Starmer to take a hard stance on the strikes, Ms Thornberry emphasised the government "should call out breaches of international law and defend it – in principle I would like to see us call it out."
Branding it a "breach of international law," Dame Emily Thornberry highlighted that such action should be called out.
"I know that its response was pretty muted in the summer when they had what they call the 12 Day War, but I don't see any reason why they should be muted this time. It's all or nothing," she told LBC.
"The Iranian regime is under huge amount of pressure. It's already, as I say, been attacked in the summer. There's been the demonstrations.
"The overriding ambition is to stay in power. And I think that they're likely to throw everything at it, which, well, we just don't know."
Confirming the UK had a military forces already in the region, Ms Thornberry confirmed "we haven't allowed bases to be used but we might end up having to defend ourselves. If we get attacked, what do we do?"
Highlighting that the UK has "got a significant military presence in places like Bahrain and UAE and Qatar and Oman", the Labour MP added: "There was an agreement which the British and the Americans under Obama were involved in with the Iranians, to stop them developing a nuclear weapon which, you know, Donald Trump tore up."
It comes as a government spokesperson said: “Iran must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and that is why we have continually supported efforts to reach a negotiated solution.
“Our immediate priority is the safety of UK nationals in the region and we will provide them with consular assistance, available 24/7.
“As part of our longstanding commitments to the security of our allies in the Middle East, we have a range of defensive capabilities in the region, which we have recently bolstered. We stand ready to protect our interests.
“We do not want to see further escalation into a wider regional conflict.”
She went on to note that the action "will impact cost of living" given the proximity of strikes to international shipping lanes.
Telling LBC that "obviously they'll attack Israel", Ms Thornberry highlighted that "there are plenty of other places they could attack. They could close the straits upon where our shipping goes through. They could activate, you know, the access of resistance, as they call it.
"And although they're much weakened, nevertheless, the Houthis could also start, as we saw them before, start shelling shipping in the region, which they've said that they will do."
"And I think that it's a very. It's a precarious region and I think it's going to be profoundly destabilised as a result of this. It's a very worrying morning.
"I mean, there was an agreement which the British and the Americans under Obama were involved in with the Iranians, to stop them developing a nuclear weapon which, you know, Donald Trump tore up.
"And so this is why we are where we are. He then said that he had obliterated the Iranian nuclear weapon programme in the summer, but now seems to think that he needs to bomb it again because perhaps he didn't obliterate it."
"I'm glad that we're not involved," she continued.
"It does seem to me to be, you know, that we have a presence in the region, so we could have been of assistance and we haven't been. We haven't allowed the Chagos island to be used, presumably. We haven't allowed our bases in the. In the region to be used.
"That's all good, but we might end up having to defend ourselves. That's what I'm trying to say, you know, because we do have a British presence in the area, so we could end up getting dragged into it, which, you know, we really don't need.
"We really Shouldn't. But if we get attacked, what do we do?"
