The UK has blocked the US from using RAF bases for strikes on Iran. Photo / Getty Images
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has blocked US President Donald Trump from using RAF bases to strike Iran.
Trump is thought to have withdrawn his support for Starmer’s Chagos deal over the British government’s refusal to give consent for the US to use UK military bases to launch bombing runs.
The US is putting together contingency plans for a direct attack on Iran, with long-range bombing and refuelling aircraft sent to the Middle East in recent days.
Trump has been told by defence officials that his country will be ready for war by Saturday after the largest US military build-up in the region since 2003, when America went to war in Iraq.
Any US strike on Iran would likely use the Diego Garcia military base in the Chagos Islands – the British overseas territory in the Indian Ocean that the UK is planning to give to Mauritius – and European air bases in allied countries.
The US does not need consent to use Diego Garcia, but must ask the UK Government before using RAF bases.
This week, Trump told the UK to “remain strong in the face of wokeism” and not to “give away” the Chagos Islands. Posting on Truth Social, the US President said: “Should Iran decide not to make a deal, it may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia, and the Airfield located in Fairford, in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous regime.”
The request was made amid rising tension between the US and Iran over Tehran’s refusal to sign a deal to curb its nuclear programme.
Trump’s comments are understood to be a reference to a US request for permission to launch long-range bombing runs from RAF Fairford, a military base in Gloucestershire that hosts US Air Force personnel.
However, the UK has yet to give consent because of concerns raised by government lawyers, first reported by the Times, that participating in the strikes could be a breach of international law.
Government sources said the UK is unlikely to support any pre-emptive military strike on Iran, following a similar refusal to participate in the US President’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities last year.
The UK could be held responsible for an illegal attack on Iran by the US under a UN edict passed in 2001, if it had “knowledge of the circumstances of the internationally wrongful act”.
After Trump’s strikes on Iran last year, ministers repeatedly refused to say whether Britain’s lawyers believed the strikes were legal.
In his message this week, Trump laid out the bones of a legal justification for bombing Iran, arguing that a strike could “eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous regime … [that] would potentially be made on the United Kingdom, as well as other friendly countries”.
The ultimate responsibility for government legal advice on military strikes lies with Lord Hermer, the Attorney-General, although it is unclear whether he has been directly consulted about the US’ use of RAF bases.
Before last year’s US strikes on Iran, it was reported that Lord Hermer had produced legal advice warning that any British involvement beyond defending UK assets in the region would be unlawful.
The Attorney-General reportedly told ministers he had “concerns about the UK playing any role in this except for defending our allies”, including Israel.
The full legal advice was never published, but Whitehall sources told The Daily Telegraph that the UK was still unlikely to participate in any pre-emptive strikes on Iran, indicating that the British legal position had not changed.
During the past month, the Ministry of Defence has deployed additional Typhoon and F-35 fighter jets to the region in anticipation of any Iranian response to an attack by the US.
Trump could also launch a strike on Iran from Diego Garcia, a base it is only required to “notify” Britain about using, under the terms of a treaty between the two countries.
Under Sir Keir’s Chagos deal, the sovereignty of the islands will pass to Mauritius, while the base will be leased back at a cost of £35 billion ($79b) over 99 years.
Trump has repeatedly flipped between support for and opposition to the deal, which he said last month was an act of “great stupidity”.
He then said that he believed the agreement was the best that Sir Keir could have struck to maintain control of the base amid legal challenges from Mauritius in the international courts.
This week, the US President returned to his earlier position, writing on Truth Social: “We will always be ready, willing and able to fight for the UK, but they have to remain strong in the face of wokeism, and other problems put before them. DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA!”
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