UK Turns to Ukrainian Drone Warfare Experts to Help Gulf States Counter Iranian UAV Threat

The United Kingdom plans to involve Ukrainian military experts in efforts to help Gulf nations improve defenses against Iranian drone attacks, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced in a video statement on his official X account on March 2.

According to Starmer, Ukrainian specialists—drawing on extensive battlefield experience gained during Russia’s war against Ukraine—will work alongside British experts to support partner countries in the Persian Gulf facing ongoing drone threats.

“We are not joining these strikes, but we will continue our defensive actions in the region. And we will also bring in experts from Ukraine to work together with our own experts to help partner countries in the Gulf shoot down Iranian drones that are attacking them,” he said.

Starmer emphasized that the United Kingdom did not participate “in the initial strikes on Iran” and does not intend to take part “in offensive actions at this time.”

However, he added that London supports defensive cooperation with regional allies as tensions escalate.

“As Iran pursues a scorched-earth strategy, we support the collective self-defense of our allies and our people in the region,” the British prime minister said.

Earlier, Iranian-made Shahed drones struck a luxury hotel on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah and a United States naval base in Bahrain.

These unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are the same models that have been used extensively by Russian forces to target civilian and energy infrastructure across Ukraine since 2022.

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