Watch the moment Camilla Tominey grilled Defence Secretary John Healey over Labour’s silence following the death of the Ayotollah.
In the early hours of this morning, the Islamic Republic officially announced the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei hours after declaring the 86-year-old was “safe and sound”.
The Ayatollah was killed at his office on Saturday morning, Iranian state TV confirmed.
Israel and the US were blamed, with the statement describing the Ayatollah’s “martyrdom” as the beginning of an “uprising against the oppressors”.
Mr Healey repeated Britain ‘played no role’ in the pre-emptive strikes
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GB NEWS
However, despite the leader having ruled an oppressive regime over the Iranian people since 1989, Sir Keir Starmer has not put out an official statement.
On GB News, when asked repeatedly if Britain backed the US-Israeli “pre-emptive” strikes on Iran on Saturday morning, Mr Healey repeated the UK “was no part of the strikes yesterday and overnight”.
“We share the primary aim that the US have and allies in the region have, that Iran should never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon,” he added.
Yesterday, British planes were “in the sky” as part of defensive operations while Tehran launched rockets across the Middle East as part of retaliatory efforts.
“Respectfully, Defence Secretary, that hasn’t answered my question. Do we support the US in Israel in this military action?” the host repeated.
Again, Mr Healey repeated Britain played no part in the strikes and were currently working to protect British citizens in the region, as well as the UK’s allies.
“It can stop its increasingly indiscriminate attacks widely across the Middle East. It can end its weapons programmes and return to the sort of negotiations that long term will secure the stability in the region,” the Labour Minister continued.
Camilla said: “Okay, so you’re comfortable when we have now the overthrow of this so-called tyrant of Tehran, a man who spent decades with the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) carrying out the most horrendous human rights abuses against the Iranian people.
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The death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has been confirmed
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REUTERS“Killing people, murdering people in their hospital beds… The US and Israel have taken action against this murderous medievalism.
“And you’re comfortable that the UK and a Prime Minister and an Attorney General that like to speak about the importance of human rights have basically taken a backseat on this?”
But in response, the Defence Secretary said: “On the contrary, we were putting extra defences into the region several weeks ago.
“We’ve been leading the way with UK planes in the air that have been protecting other regional allies. And I, for one, do not mourn the end of the Ayatollah.
“He led a regime that is a source of evil, murdering its own citizens, sponsoring and exporting terror, including to Britain over the years, and now is responsible for an escalating level of risk because of its widespread, increasingly uncontrolled and less indiscriminate attacks on allies in the region that put UK people at risk as well.”
Nevertheless, Mr Healey refused to set out explicit support for Donald Trump’s action on the oppressive regime on Saturday throughout his discussion with Camilla.
Asked if Labour has refused to support the military action under Lord Hermer’s advice, Mr Healey refused to confirm Sir Keir Starmer had followed advice by the Attorney General that the military action might have breached international law.
He said: “It’s because our first focus, and our primary focus, our full focus, is on the defensive action that we can contribute, not just to protecting our own people in the region, but to the wider regional stability and the prevention of further escalation.
“Those are my three top priorities as Defence Secretary, and that sits alongside the determination that the Prime Minister is showing over the weekend, speaking to E3 leaders, leaders in the wider Middle East, as well as to President Trump.”
He added: “I’m just not going to talk about the internal government discussions, nor am I going to talk about the discussions we have with close allies, including the US. Judge us by our actions. We were not part of the strikes against Iran, but we’re leading the way with defensive action.”