The UK has condemned Iran’s brutal repression of protests as Donald Trump said he had sent a naval force to the region which could act with “speed and violence” if necessary.
The US president, who has previously pledged help to the uprising against the Tehran regime, suggested the presence of the fleet was linked to Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
In Westminster, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy criticised Iran’s regime but declined to commit to banning the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Thousands of people have been killed in recent weeks as the Iranian authorities have responded to protests in cities across the country.
In a message on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said “a massive armada” led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was heading to Iran, claiming the fleet was bigger than that assembled for the operation in Venezuela which led to the capture of Nicolas Maduro.
“Like with Venezuela it is ready, willing and able to rapidly fulfil its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary,” Mr Trump warned.
The US carried out air strikes against Iranian nuclear sites in June last year.
Mr Trump said time was running out for Iran to make a “fair and equitable deal”, including abandoning its nuclear weapons programme, or “the next attack will be far worse”.
In the Commons, Mr Lammy was urged by Liberal Democrat Sarah Olney to proscribe the IRGC, the regime’s military wing.
The Deputy Prime Minister said: “I utterly condemn the Iranian regime’s brutal repression of peaceful protesters.”
But he said it was “a long-standing position under successive governments not to comment on whether a specific organisation is being considered for proscription”.
He pointed to sanctions already placed on Iran and said the Government was “working at pace… to explore what further measures can be taken”.
