Thread by @haynesdeborah

EXCLUSIVE: UK has raised threat level for UK forces + diplomats in Iraq - in line with the US - because of what sources say is a heightened security risk from Iran
Britain has also put its personnel + families in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait & Qatar on an increased state of alert 1/

Contingency plans in case the UK decides it has to remove personnel from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or Qatar have started to be activated, though this is only at a very early stage and is currently precautionary in case the crisis escalates, sources said. 2/

. @DefenceHQ raised threat level in Iraq before a senior British military officer played down warnings of any new Iranian risk posed to British, US and other forces in the country, according to an informed source. 3/

The comments on Tuesday by Major General Chris Ghika, the top UK military officer in the US-led coalition against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, were widely seen as a sign of divergence between the threat assessments of the UK and the US on Iran. 4/

But source said Ghika had been aware of the increased security risk as he had seen a number of intelligence reports. When asked to comment at briefing, he had not known whether he was authorised to disclose this info, which is why he struck a more cautious tone, source said 5/

A source said UK believes there is an increased likelihood of Iran or its proxies taking action against UK, US or other allied interests in region in a way that can be plausibly denied so as to avoid triggering an all-out war.
6/

The targets would most likely be soft such as oil infrastructure or other civilian targets, source said. Aim = cause disruption but not do something that could be directly linked back to regime. Goal = signal Iranian anger at renewed US sanctions & to push for them to be eased 7/

. @foreignoffice's Iran unit is in "full crisis mode" because of what is seen as increased threat from Iran, coupled with US response, with the movement of aircraft carrier task group, B-52 bombers and a missile defence system into the Gulf region.
8/

The UK's National Security Council discussed Iran as a "hot topic" on Tuesday.
A lot of diplomatic efforts by Britain are going on behind the scenes to try to resolve the standoff between the United States and Iran peacefully.
Here is fuller piece: bit.ly/2HrF9kP ends/