A peace deal between the USA and Iran must ensure that the Islamic regime does not resume its nuclear weapons programme, according to Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel.
She told The Camilla Tominey Show on GB News: “First and foremost, of course, we would welcome an end to this awful conflict, which has had huge repercussions at home and here in the Middle East. These are our friends and allies.
“I’m here in the UAE, but fundamentally, this has to be lasting, and it’s got to be sustained. So far we’ve heard that there could be a ceasefire of 60 days, that would be welcome, but that it would be phased, and of course, there’s conditions that people are speaking about.
“To reopen the Strait of Hormuz would effectively, what we’re hearing is, would require the Americans to lift their blockade on Iranian ports, and of course, ultimately we want to see Iran’s nuclear capability eroded and effectively removed.
“We do not know the details of that yet, so there is still a lot more information that we need to know. We do need progress here, but we cannot be sacrificing this whole issue of Iran and the nuclear deterrent. They really must be depleted of that uranium. There must be more transparency.
“We’ve also heard that the Iranians could potentially de-mine the Strait of Hormuz. We can’t trust Iran to do that. Britain has capability to help with de-mining, we should be involved in that, and as I said, there is more to come on this, so we’re going to look at these details, study these details, and you know, hopefully there could be some positive news.
“We need to see Iran weakened here, we cannot have them come back and effectively start threatening our friends and allies and hold the Strait of Hormuz hostage all over again.”
She added: “Fundamentally, Iran is a threat. There is a threat to us domestically. Let’s not forget, we’ve got the Iranians recruiting people in the United Kingdom right now to attack the Jewish community. That is a fact, and people have been arrested over that.
“Iran is a threat to the United Kingdom, and it’s a threat to our allies here in the region, and they threaten to destabilise the world. They have been doing that, and they are doing that right now on the economic side with the Strait of Hormuz, but also with the threats, and their military might.
“We’ve seen that with their drone strikes and their ballistic missile capabilities. Iran is part of the axis of authoritarianism that aligns with Russia and China and North Korea. It is not a country that wishes us well.”
She was asked if Sir Keir Starmer would be Prime Minister by the end of the summer and said: “I have no idea, because this psychodrama in the Labour Party just seems to look like it’s going to go on and on and on.
“We don’t know, but all I can say is that while they’re looking at themselves and being self-serving, no one’s governing the country, and that’s not good for Britain.”