Britain’s Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper has warned her Iranian counterpart in a phone call “against targeting UK bases, territory or interests directly”, a foreign office statement says, reports AFP.

The statement was a response to one issued by Iran’s foreign ministry in which it said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Cooper in the call on Thursday that any US use of British bases would be seen as “participation in aggression” against the Islamic republic.

Cooper told Araghchi “the defensive UK operations in the region were a response to the Iranian aggression against Gulf partners”, the UK foreign office said, adding: “She made clear that the UK wants to see a swift resolution to this conflict. “