American B-2 stealth bombers are expected to land at British military bases “in a matter of days” to join attacks on Iran.
The UK’s airbases at Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford, in Gloucestershire, are both being prepared for the arrival of the US warplanes this week.
Donald Trump has warned Iran to expect a devastating new wave of strikes.
“We haven’t even started hitting them hard. The big wave hasn’t even happened. The big one is coming soon,” the US president said on Monday.
Britain had denied requests to allow US warplanes to carry out strikes from RAF bases, citing international law, but Sir Keir Starmer relented on Sunday night and said he would allow the US to fly missions from the bases for “specific and limited defensive purposes”.
Mr Trump later attacked the Prime Minister over his lack of support for the Iran war, saying he is “not Winston Churchill” and “ruins relationships”.
Speaking to journalists in the Oval Office, he said he was “not happy with the UK” over the decision, which led to US planes “flying many extra hours” over the Atlantic to hit Iran.
On Wednesday, Sir Keir said Mr Trump had no viable plan for Iran. He told MPs: “What I was not prepared to do on Saturday was for the UK to join a war unless I was satisfied there was a lawful basis and a viable, thought-through plan. That remains my position.”
Hezbollah fighters have reportedly engaged in “direct” clashes with Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.
It comes as the Israeli military entered several villages near the UN-demarcated Blue Line, the BBC reported, citing the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
Lebanon’s health ministry says 72 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since Monday, including 20 killed on Wednesday, according to Haneen Sayed, the social affairs minister.
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