UK Denies Trump's Request To Use Its Key Base For Any Iran Strike: Report

US President Donald Trump's latest retraction of support for Britain's deal to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius comes as the UK government holds off giving permission for him to use the Diego Garcia military base in the archipelago for any possible strike on Iran.

The US has accumulated military assets in the Middle East as Trump ratchets up pressure on Tehran in ongoing talks to curb its nuclear programme. The US president on Wednesday argued that the Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean as well as an airfield in England could play a critical role in any hypothetical US attack on Iran. 

But people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Thursday that the UK hasn't granted permission for the US to use the bases for such a strike, due to concerns regarding international law as well as other considerations. Diego Garcia was not used in the US strikes on Iran in June. The Times first reported Britain's lack of approval to date. 

Use by other nations of military bases in the UK for operational purposes requires a "legal basis and policy rationale for any proposed activity" before being approved, UK defense minister Al Carns told the House of Commons last month, when asked how the government decides whether to grant the US permission for their use.

"As routine, we do not comment on operational matters," the UK government said Thursday in a statement. "There is a political process ongoing between the US and Iran, which the UK supports."

Trump spoke by phone with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday, with the two men touching on the Iran US talks taking place in Geneva. The readout didn't specify if the US president had asked Starmer about using Britain's bases.

The following day, Trump said the UK was making a "big mistake" with its proposed deal to turn over control of the Chagos Islands, just two weeks after saying the agreement was the "best" arrangement Starmer could make, and a day after the US State Department had endorsed the deal.

"Prime Minister Starmer should not lose control, for any reason, of Diego Garcia, by entering a tenuous, at best, 100 Year Lease," Trump said on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday. "This land should not be taken away from the UK and, if it is allowed to be, it will be a blight on our Great Ally."

Trump said that any restrictions on the military could leave the UK vulnerable to attack by Iran. He dismissed claims by Mauritius to the island as, in his opinion, "fictitious in nature."

The comments marked the latest pivot by Trump on the issue, which has roiled efforts within the UK to proceed with the deal struck with Mauritius. The Chagos Islands and the Diego Garcia base are almost 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) from the coast of East Africa. The US and UK military facility there allows the nations to more easily carry out missions in the Middle East and Asia. 

The deal "is the only way to guarantee the long-term future of this vital military base," the UK's foreign ministry said in a statement. The government's position is that court decisions had jeopardized the UK's legal claim to the islands, and that could have stopped the base operating as intended without such an agreement.

While the UK has already signed the treaty with Mauritius, a bill to implement it is yet to complete its passage through Parliament, with ministers disputing several amendments passed in the Lords. The government postponed a Lords debate on the issue last month and has yet to say when it will return to be passed into law. 

Under that deal, Mauritius would cede "full responsibility for the defense and security of Diego Garcia" to the UK for 99 years. Starmer's deal, which was finalized last year, won initial backing from the Trump administration: Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it a "monumental achievement" and Trump himself expressed his support at a meeting in the Oval Office a year ago.

That changed when Trump earlier this year called the decision "an act of GREAT STUPIDITY." It was seen by the UK government as a retaliatory move against its support for Denmark and Greenland over the president's threat to take the island. 

Trump appeared to walk back some of that criticism following a discussion with Starmer earlier this month - after which Downing Street said the pair would continue to work closely on implementation of a deal. 

Then, in a statement earlier this week, the US State Department said it "supports the decision of the United Kingdom to proceed with its agreement with Mauritius concerning the Chagos archipelago." It also said a US delegation next week will hold discussions in Mauritius on bilateral security cooperation and implementation of security arrangements for the base.

Asked about Trump's intervention by broadcasters on Thursday morning, UK minister Alex Davies-Jones insisted the government is working closely with the US on the issue and pointed to the White House's recent support for the deal.

But the latest post suggested Trump had returned to disapproving of the arrangement. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, asked to address the competing signals, said the president's latest post "should be taken as the policy of the Trump administration."

"It's coming straight from the horse's mouth," she said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)