UK ‘blocks US from using RAF bases to launch Iran strike – prompting anger from Trump’

The UK blocked the US from using RAF bases to launch attacks on Iran, sparking anger from President Donald Trump.

A dispute over the use of British military facilities was behind Trump’s withdrawal of support for Sir Keir Starmer’s deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, a report has claimed.

It comes as the White House prepares a detailed military plan for an attack on Iran that includes the use of Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, where America’s fleet of heavy bombers are based in Europe.

Defense officials reportedly informed Trump that the United States would be ready to launch a war by Saturday, following a massive buildup of American aircraft and ships in recent days.

Following the deployment of approximately 50 additional fighter jets, air-to-air refueling tankers and other aircraft to the Middle East, military assets will be at the level needed to begin air strikes by the weekend.

But under the terms of long-standing agreements with the White House, British bases can only be used for military operations previously agreed with Number 10.

Under international law, there is no formal distinction between the country carrying out the strike and those supporting the strike, if the strikers ‘have knowledge of the circumstances of the action contrary to international law’.

According to the report, Britain has not yet given the US permission to use military facilities due to concerns that if Trump orders an attack on Tehran, the attack would be a violation of international law. Times.

On Tuesday night, Trump spoke with the prime minister about his ultimatum to Iran over Iran’s nuclear program.

The next day, he published a post on social media platform Truth Social attacking the UK for its plans to settle the future of the Chagos Islands with Mauritius.

“I am telling UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer that Leases are no good when it comes to Countries and that he has made a huge mistake by entering into a 100 Year Lease with the person who “claims” the Rights, Title and Interests of Diego Garcia, strategically located in the Indian Ocean,” Trump wrote.

“If Iran decides not to make a deal, the United States may need to use Diego Garcia and the airspace at Fairford to neutralize a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous Regime,” he added.

In 2021, current defense secretary John Healey asked the then Conservative government in the House of Commons for clarification on the use of British military sites by American forces.

In response, he was told that any operation would have to comply with UK law and the UK’s assessment of relevant international law.

There is a strong precedent for Britain’s stance on pre-emptive strikes.

Before the Iraq war, then attorney-general Lord Goldsmith said international law only justified force in self-defence in cases of actual or imminent attack.

But he later claimed that a UN resolution on Iraq made this a legal conflict.

In his post on Truth Social, Trump suggested that the government’s support for the strike would be legal under international law as Tehran could potentially attack ‘other friendly countries’ as well as the UK.

We will always be ready, willing and able to fight for the United Kingdom, but they must remain strong in the face of Wokeism and other problems put before them. DON’T GIVE DIEGO GARCIA!’ Trump concluded his remarks.

The UK government has repeatedly stressed that a deal with Mauritius, expected to cost the taxpayer £35 billion, is necessary for security reasons and will avoid an expensive legal battle over the territory.

Diego Garcia is the largest island in the Chagos archipelago and has been used as a joint UK-US military base since the 1970s.

According to the agreement announced last May, England will loan Diego Garcia back for 99 years at an average annual cost of £101 million.

Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said: ‘It’s time for Starmer to finally come to his senses, turn to the U and scrap this terrible deal completely.’

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: ‘Trump’s endless somersaults in the Chagos Islands show why Starmer’s approach is doomed to fail.’

A government spokesman told the Daily Mail: ‘We do not routinely comment on operational matters.

‘A political process between the USA and Iran, supported by the UK, continues.

‘Iran should never be able to develop nuclear weapons and our priority is the security of the region.’

The second carrier strike group, USS Gerald R. Ford, is expected to arrive in the Eastern Mediterranean within the next few days.

From there, the world’s largest warship and its escort can defend Israel from an Iranian counterattack, using the carrier’s fast jets to destroy drones and its destroyers to aid the Jewish state’s powerful but not comprehensive missile defense umbrella.

Alternatively, the carrier’s F-35s and other fighter jets could also be deployed to attack Iran from the Eastern Mediterranean; but if the carrier moves to the Arabian Sea, where USS Abraham Lincoln is currently based, it could increase America’s sortie rate in a sustained operations scenario.

With the combined power of fighter jets, support aircraft and warships, the United States has the capacity to pound Iran for weeks non-stop if Trump gives the order.

Although Trump is not thought to have made a decision yet, two rounds of talks between US and Iranian representatives in Geneva have made only very limited progress.

US Vice President JD Vance warned after Tuesday’s talks that the theocratic regime had failed to accept Trump’s ‘red lines’.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the American president was briefed on his military options at a time when the most air power in the region has been assembled since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

In addition to attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities, which Trump previously claimed were ‘destroyed’ during Operation Midnight Hammer in June, the US may also attempt to trigger regime change from the air.

Such a campaign would include assassination attempts on Iran’s supreme leader, 86-year-old Ali Khamenei, and several of his senior officers, as well as the chiefs of the fanatically loyal Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Analysts have calculated that, combined with the potential return of nationwide popular demonstrations against the regime, this could mean the end of the Islamic Republic.

Sascha Bruchmann, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said: Telegram: ‘The aim will be for the mainstream Iranian army, Artesh, to side with the people. ‘I want to be clear that we haven’t seen this in January, but that will be the design.’

‘Air strikes would likely aim to hit the regime through communications, so it failed to communicate and organize itself, leveling the playing field’ [for anti-regime forces]” he added.

When asked how fragile the Islamic Republic was, Bruchmann replied: ‘There is an old saying: They always kill at the beginning and at the end.’

According to the New York Times, based on two defense officials, preparations have begun in Israel for the possibility of joining the USA through attacks.

The Israeli army has more than 200 warplanes at its disposal, including F-35s, F-16s and F-15s.

His government brought forward the security cabinet meeting scheduled to be held from Sunday to Thursday.

Trump has so far delayed striking Iran after drawing red lines over the killing of peaceful protesters and the regime’s mass executions, re-engaging Tehran in nuclear talks previously disrupted in June by the Iran-Israel war.

This came as Tehran held military exercises with Russia on Thursday, days after the unprecedented closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard temporarily closed parts of the vital waterway and fired cruise missiles on Tuesday; This was a stark warning of the possible effects on the world economy if the United States continued its threats of attack.

The exercise held on Thursday saw Iranian forces and Russian sailors conducting operations in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency claimed it was aimed at “improving operational coordination as well as exchanging military experience.”

Rear Admiral Hassan Maghsoudlou, spokesman for the exercise, said Iran will conduct ‘counter-terrorism and ship protection operations’ with the aim of improving ‘security and sustainable maritime interactions in the Gulf of Oman and the Northern Indian Ocean’.

China had participated in the ‘Security Belt’ exercise in previous years, but no statement was made about its participation in this round.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Thursday called on all Polish citizens to evacuate Iran and warned that the option to leave may no longer be possible ‘within a few hours’.

“Please leave Iran immediately… and do not go to this country under any circumstances,” Tusk said.