Wes Streeting Condemns Trump's 'Incendiary, Provocative And Outrageous' Comments On Iran War

Wes Streeting has condemned Donald Trump’s “incendiary, provocative and  outrageous” threat to destroy Iranian civilisation.

The health secretary accused the US president of using “rhetoric which people might find shocking” in the most outspoken attack on him so far by a government minister.

Streeting took aim at Trump after peace talks between America and Iran broke up without agreement.

Trump sparked an angry backlash last week when he claimed that “an entire civilisation will die tonight” unless Tehran re-opened the Strait of Hormuz.

A ceasefire was agreed at the last minute, but the vitally important waterway remains effectively blocked to oil traffic.

On Sky News on Sunday morning, Streeting said: “Over the course of the past week, President Trump has said some pretty bold, in Yes Minister language, incendiary, provocative, outrageous things on social media.

“I think we’ve all come to learn that you judge President Trump through what he does, not just what he says.”

Trump has also launched repeated attacks on Keir Starmer over the UK’s initial refusal to allow the US jets to use RAF bases to launch their attacks on Iran.

He said the prime minister was “no Winston Churchill” and has also compared him to his Hitler-appeasing predecessor Neville Chamberlain.

Streeting said the so-called special relationship had been “undoubtedly strained” by the split over Iran, but insisted the two countries still enjoyed a strong partnership.

He said: “We are old and close friends and we’ve got a shared outlook as democratic countries and we’ve got shared security interests.

“So all of that partnership continues to go on. The point I’m making is you have to distinguish between some of the rhetoric which people might find shocking, and then the reality.

“There were lots of people who went to bed earlier this week with President Trump threatening the end of Iranian civilisation, wondering what on earth would happen overnight, and woke up to a very different picture next morning.

“That’s the point we’re making. There’s a difference between what he says and what he does, and the prime minister has kept level-headed cool, calm leadership that I think the public have appreciated and respected.”

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