Iran has threatened to target UK, French and US military bases across the Middle East if the help block the Iranian missile and drone retaliation for Israel’s attack.
Both countries have exchanged extensive aerial attacks after Israel launched a surprise missile assault on some of Tehran’s nuclear facilities, uranium experts and high-ranking officials on Friday (13 June). Dozens of civilians have been killed in the crossfire.
Sir Keir Starmer has announced additional British fighter jets are being deployed to the Middle East as a “contingency support” in the region.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves today insisted Britain is not at war despite sending more RAF jets to the Middle East, but said the UK could play a military role defending Israel from ongoing Iranian attacks.
US president Donald Trump, meanwhile, warned Iran that an attack on its military interests in the region would be met with the “full strength and might of the US Armed Forces”.
Below, The Independent looks at where the British, French and the Americans have a presence across the Middle East.
Britain’s military bases
The UK has three permanent military sites in the Middle East, as well as an RAF base in Cyprus in the Mediterranean.
The UK opened a permanent military centre at the Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates last March. Named after a World War II pilot, William Donnelly, the centre is a relatively small military facility equipped with a headquarters, a welfare center and accommodation.
It also operates a permanent military presence in Bahrain and Oman, both of which are used by the British Navy.
Its main operating base in the region is RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, home to a number of fighter jets.
It also has access to the US-run Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
US military presence in the Middle East
The American presence in the Middle East is considerably larger.
It operates a broad network of sites across at least 19 locations in the wider region, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Eight are permanent, including in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
US forces have been attacked on several occasions by Iran-backed forces since the outbreak of the latest war in Gaza and the subsequent conflicts with other state and non-state actors in the wider region.
In January 2024, three American soldiers were killed and dozens more injured after a one-way attack drone hit the military base Tower 22 in Jordan, near the Syrian border. US officials blamed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias, for the attack.
French military bases in the Middle East
The French presence in the Middle East is primarily based at Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE, where it has a permanent outfit stationed there.
French troops in the UAE number about 650, according to the French Armed Forces Ministry.
It has also periodically operated from Jordan, combating militia forces in Syria and Iraq.
