Starmer praises Muslims and defends Iran policy at iftar in Westminster

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer addressed Muslim MPs and community figures at a "Big Iftar" event in Westminster Hall, organised by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims, on Tuesday night.

Starmer spoke about Gaza, the US-Israeli attack on Iran and rising anti-Muslim hostility.

He told the crowd that Ramadan strengthens "the bonds of community and decency that unite us all", describing it as a time "of great generosity, of service and of celebration too".

He also characterised the UK as "a community of communities where Muslims are at the forefront of Britain's story".

The prime minister addressed the plight of Gaza's Palestinians, saying: "We must not lose sight of them and the need for peace, justice and security in Palestine and Israel."

After his address, Starmer was seen embracing the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, Hussam Zomlot. 

The Labour government cooperated politically, economically and militarily with Israel throughout its genocide in Gaza.

Although Starmer's government imposed a partial arms embargo on Israel and sanctioned far-right Israeli ministers, the UK continued to share intelligence with the Israeli military from surveillance flights over Gaza during the war.

In his address on Tuesday night, Starmer also defended Britain's decision to allow the US to use UK military bases for the purpose of targeting Iranian missile sites.

"The UK was not involved in the offensive strikes of the US and Israel and that remains the case," Starmer said, to applause from the crowd.

"I never supported the Iraq war back in 2003," he said. "And I'm determined we learn and follow the lessons today."

Prime Minister @Keir_Starmer at The Big Iftar in Westminster Hall with Muslims: no regime changes from the skies, we have learnt lessons from the Iraq war; let me remind you that I had opposed the Iraq war 🚨 pic.twitter.com/TK6RBCxrGi

— Murtaza Ali Shah (@MurtazaViews) March 4, 2026

"What we're now doing is to allow our bases to be used for the defensive purposes of preventing [Iranian] attacks and protecting innocent lives, because that is what we need to do to support our Middle Eastern allies who have asked us for support. And that is how we protect British citizens caught in the crossfires."

On Wednesday the Green Party, the new left-wing Your Party, the parliamentary Independent Alliance and Labour backbenchers tabled a Bill for the government to require parliament's approval for the foreign use of British military bases.

Starmer's appearance at the Big Iftar came after Green Party leader Zack Polanski condemned what he called "Starmer's utter inability to stand up to Donald Trump".

He said: "We now face being dragged into another illegal war in the Middle East which has now pulled in multiple countries. People in this country do not want this and it must not be allowed to happen."

Starmer on anti-Muslim hostility

At the Big Iftar, Starmer also denounced rising anti-Muslim hostility in Britain, saying: "Reverberations from events like these always come home and they're exploited by people in this country who want to sow divisions, and frankly, people who want to target Muslims because they are Muslims."

Hours before the iftar, the Green Party's co-deputy leader, Mothin Ali, told Middle East Eye he feared for his life and has faced death threats after a Conservative MP made a false claim about him in parliament, which Starmer appeared to agree with.

'They will get me killed': Mothin Ali slams Starmer and Tory MP over smears in parliament

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"They will get me killed," Ali said, adding that "over the last couple of days I've received about 20 death threats".

Tory MP and former cabinet minister Alec Shelbrooke claimed, while asking a question to Starmer in parliament on Monday, that Ali, a Leeds councillor, had been "protesting in support of the ayatollah".

The claims had circulated on social media after footage emerged on Saturday of Ali at an anti-war demonstration organised by the Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran to protest the US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

Starmer responded: "I think we were all shocked by the actions of the deputy leader of the Green Party - although perhaps not surprised, given that party's recent turn of direction."

MEE asked Downing Street whether the prime minister would clarify his comments, and did not receive a response.

Ali said he is not a supporter of the Iranian government and attended the demonstration - at which some attendees held pro-Iran signs - after a strike on a girls' school in Iran on Saturday morning killed over 150 people.