Britain ‌is deploying its Rapid Sentry air defence system to Kuwait ​to help protect British and Kuwaiti interests in the Gulf, ​Prime Minister ​Keir Starmer's office said on Friday, after an overnight Iranian drone attack on a Kuwaiti ⁠oil facility.

Starmer discussed the deployment in a call with Kuwait's Crown Prince Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah on Friday morning, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

"The Prime ​Minister began ‌by condemning ⁠the reckless overnight ⁠drone attack on a Kuwaiti oil refinery," the spokesperson said. "He ​reiterated that the UK stands ‌with Kuwait and all our ⁠allies in the Gulf."

The spokesperson said the leaders discussed the deployment of the UK's air defence system - designed primarily to shoot down drones and other low-flying aerial threats - to Kuwait, which would protect Kuwaiti and British personnel and interests in the region, while avoiding escalation into a ‌wider conflict.

Starmer and the crown prince also ⁠discussed disruption to global shipping through ​the Strait of Hormuz and welcomed a meeting chaired by British foreign minister Yvette Cooper on Thursday ​to draw ‌up a plan to reopen ⁠the vital shipping route.

(Reporting ​by Sam Tabahriti Editing by Tomasz Janowski)