Brit forces on alert as US prepares to strike

Pentagon set to avenge 3 troops' deaths

- CHRIS HUGHES

BRITISH forces across the Middle East are on high alert for an American revenge strike on Iranian groups for killing three US soldiers.

UK warships and bases have bolstered defences and security and are preparing for Iranian counter-strikes following warnings from Tehran.

Pentagon chiefs are planning a blitz on Iranian proxy group the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which hit a US outpost called Tower 22 in north east Jordan with a drone, also injuring 40.

The devastating attack followed months of drone and rocket strikes on US and UK sites in Iraq.

The Pentagon was secretly planning a retaliatory mission but Sunday's drone strike is said to have jolted the Biden administration into a multi-tiered operation, while trying not to escalate the crisis further.

Attacks by the US are likely to put at risk UK forces, with some 2,300 based all over the Middle East.

And in the Red Sea, two Royal Navy warships, Type 45 Destroyer HMS Diamond and Type 23 HMS Richmond are on patrol protecting shipping from Iran-backed Houthi rebels.