PM lets US troops use British bases to launch strikes on Iran, ministers prepare for a mass evacuation of tourists and expats via Saudi Arabia

Officials are planning to evacuate hundreds of thousands of Britons as fires raged across the Gulf last night.

After the US air strikes on Tehran, and Iran's suicide-drone revenge attacks on tourist hot-spots including Dubai, 94,000 British citizens have registered their contact details with the Foreign Office - many of them holiday-makers visiting the region or transiting through it.

It came as Keir Starmer agreed to a US request to use British military bases to hit Iranian missile sites.

The Prime Minister said: 'Our partners in the Gulf have asked us to do more to defend them, and it's my duty to protect British lives. This is in line with international law, and we are publishing a summary of our legal advice.'

Sir Keir added: 'We all remember the mistakes of Iraq and we have learned those lessons. We were not involved in the initial strikes on Iraq,n and we will not join offensive action now. But Iran is pursuing a scorched-earth strategy,gy so we are supporting the collective self-defence of our allies and our people in the region.'

With 94,000 already registering with the Foreign Office, hundreds of thousands are expected to follow suit, and ministers are understood to be drawing up contingency plans to evacuate them over land to Saudi Arabia from the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar.