Trump lashes out after UK stops US from using its bases for Iran attack

Donald Trump has threatened to block Britain's move to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after Keir Starmer's Labour government reportedly refused the US permission to use UK bases to attack Iran.

The US has recently moved military assets towards the Middle East amid reports it is planning for a potential sustained campaign against Tehran.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missiles programmes, warning last week that Tehran’s failure to reach a deal would be “very traumatic”.

Tensions have also increased amid widepsread anti-government protests in Iran that have faced a brutal crackdown in which thousands of people are believed to have been killed.

Britain has reportedly warned the US against launching raids on Iran from British bases in Diego Garcia or RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire over concerns the attacks could break international law.

This reportedly motivated Trump's latest U-turn on Britain's plan to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and lease back the joint UK-US Diego Garcia military base over the next century for £3.4bn.

On Wednesday night Trump warned Britain was making a "big mistake" by "losing control of this important island".

He said in a social media post that if Iran does not agree to US demands it "may be necessary" to use planes from Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford, which houses the US Air Force's heavy bomber fleet in Europe. 

Diego Garcia

Diego Garcia puts US bomber aircraft within 5,300 km of Iran and could allow them to attack the Islamic Republic while avoiding Gulf airspace.

The base was the reason Britain pushed to retain the Chagos Islands when Mauritius won its independence in 1968.

But the British government would have to sign off on the US deploying from the base to strike Iran.

Shadowy British base in Indian Ocean could be used for US attacks on Iran

Read More »

If Washington asks the Starmer government for permission to use the base for an attack, Starmer would be expected to seek advice from Jonathan Powell, his national security adviser, who was Tony Blair's chief of staff when Britain invaded Iraq in 2003.

The Labour government has reportedly paused ratifying the Chagos Islands deal with Mauritius after Trump's outcry.

The president has changed his position multiple times on the issue. Last April he gave his assent to the deal but then shocked the British government in January by condemning it as an "act of stupidity".

Then earlier this month he appeared to endorse the deal, before attacking it again this week amid tensions over the use of Diego Garcia to attack Iran.

The Foreign Office said: "As routine, we do not comment on operational matters. There is a political process ongoing between the US and Iran, which the UK supports.

"Iran must never be able to develop a nuclear weapon and our priority is security in the region."

UK's refusal to help 

The British prime minister has come under fire from opposition parties over the affair, with Reform leader Nigel Farage saying on Friday: "If Keir Starmer’s real obsession with getting rid of the Chagos Islands is to destroy our strong defence relationship with America, then his government must go."

Starmer is certainly keen to maintain and strengthen Britain's relationship with the US. Yet his government has distanced itself from the Trump administration's foreign policy on several key issues over the past year.

In October 2024, when Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel, Britain said two UK fighter jets and an air-to-air refuelling tanker played a part in preventing escalation - but the jets did not engage targets. 

However, last June the UK played no role in Israel's initial strikes on Iran, nor in defending Israel from Iranian retaliation afterwards.

Iran had threatened Israel's allies that they could be attacked if they helped defend Israel.

Iran's Shahed-136B kamikaze drones have the range to attack the UK-US base on Diego Garcia, which houses around 4,000 people, mostly members of the American military and contractors.