NATIONWIDE protests against Britain’s involvement in the Iran war will be held on Saturday after Tehran slammed its “participation in aggression.”

Huge crowds will condemn horrific attacks that have left thousands dead and have sparked a global energy crisis just three weeks after US and Israel launched their illegal bombing campaign.

PM Sir Keir Starmer will face public anger over his decision to allow the US military to use British bases for so-called “defensive” strikes.

Iran’s foreign minister warned today that it sees this as “participation in aggression” in a phone call with Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.

Abbas Araghchi also criticised the “negative and biased approach of Britain” towards the US-Israeli military action against Iran after Sir Keir granted the US permission for “defensive” action against Iranian missile sites from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

Demonstrators will gather outside RAF Fairford at 1pm Saturday to read out the names of the 175 victims of a US cruise missile attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab on February 28, the vast majority of whom were school children.  

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament general secretary Sophie Bolt said: “This powerful protest at RAF Fairford couldn’t be more important. 

“The US-Israeli war on Iran is a total disaster. In three weeks they have killed thousands of people, created a global economic crisis and risk dragging the entire world into a war that could go nuclear. 

“Keir Starmer needs to end British support for this catastrophe — that means pulling the plug on the use of British bases, as well as ending all British military engagement.”

Drone Wars UK researcher Peter Burt said: “British bases have been vital to the ongoing illegal air war on Iran by the US, with heavy bombers now leaving Fairford daily with the support of refuelling planes from RAF Mildenhall. 

“This is a highly dangerous situation which is rapidly escalating out of control, with energy infrastructure now being attacked and gas and oil prices continuing to skyrocket. 

“The longer this continues, the higher the civilian death toll will be, and it will only be a matter of time before the catastrophe of the school in Minab is repeated.”

Stop the War Coalition is also urging the public to attend country-wide protests Saturday to oppose the war on Iran, the assault on Lebanon, the continuing attacks on Palestinians and the use of British bases and military intelligence in this dangerous and rapidly escalating war. 

Protesters will gather at midday in Russell Square in London to march to Whitehall, with other protests taking place in Manchester, Penzance, Birmingham, Sheffield, Bristol, Cardiff and Whitstable.

Britain has faced repeated criticism from US president Donald Trump since the war began, and is among countries the US president has recently berated for failing to respond to his request for support in the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran’s throttling of the key shipping route and attacks on energy facilities across the Gulf have heightened concerns about the security of the supply of fossil fuels.

Today oil and gas prices retreated after painful cost spikes the previous day and financial markets calmed at the end of another turbulent week.

The declines follow a statement late on Thursday by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he would hold off on any further attacks on Iran’s gas field at the request of Mr Trump after the Iranian retaliation sent oil prices skyrocketing.

Sir Keir has said that the longer the conflict continues, “the bigger the impact on the cost of living,” arguing that “the best way forward is a negotiated settlement with Iran.”

It comes as the Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said reopening the Strait of Hormuz is the “best thing to do” to prevent interest rates rising, after a vote to leave the rate unchanged at 3.75 per cent on Thursday.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “So our position is very clear. We didn’t participate in the initial strikes, and we’re not getting drawn into the wider war.

“We have authorised the US to use our bases for a specific defensive and limited purpose in response to Iran’s continued and outrageous aggression, and we’ve always said that this is the best way to eliminate the urgent threat and restore a path to diplomacy.”