US and UK to discuss use of Diego García base as Iran protests Trump

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his British counterpart will meet in Washington on Friday amid tensions between the allies over the future of the remote Chagos Islands, and specifically over the potential use of the British Diego Garcia military base on those islands in any new U.S. attack on Iran.

President Trump sharply criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a social media post this week over a deal reached last year for the United Kingdom to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius but maintain control of Diego Garcia through a 100-year lease.

Trump called it “a big mistake” and urged Starmer not to “reveal Diego Garcia,” warning in a post on his Truth Social platform that “if Iran decides not to make a deal” with the United States over its nuclear program, “it may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia and the airfield located in Fairford.” [England]in order to eradicate a possible attack by a highly unstable and dangerous regime.”

On Tuesday, the US State Department issued a statement endorsing London’s agreement with Mauritius for the small nation to assume sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean territory. But Trump condemned it the next day in his social media post as “an act of GREAT STUPIDITY,” linking his threat to attack Iran if the Islamic Republic does not agree to a new deal to curb its nuclear program.

The Times of London, along with other British media outlets, reported Thursday that the U.K. government had denied the United States permission to use both Diego Garcia and the Royal Air Force’s Fairford base in England, which host U.S. long-range bombers, for new strikes against Iran.

The UK Ministry of Defense declined to comment directly on operational issues, but a government spokesperson told News themezone on Thursday that Britain supported the ongoing political process between the US and Iran, adding: “Iran must never be able to develop a nuclear weapon, and our priority is security in the region.”

News themezone confirmed that the Diego Garcia issue would be discussed in Washington on Friday at the meeting between Rubio and UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.

President Trump has ordered a huge US military buildup around Iranincluding warships and air power, while pressuring Tehran to make a agreement on its nuclear enrichment program.

The deployments include the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group, which is already in the Arabian Sea, and a second strike group, led by the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, which was seen crossing the Strait of Gibraltar on Friday on its way to the Mediterranean. Those deployments will put both strike groups, including their associated warships and dozens of aircraft, within striking distance of Iran.

A senior regional official told News themezone on Thursday that one of the reasons the United States is moving two aircraft carriers to the region is the reluctance of some US allies to grant permission for their territory to be used in any attack against Iran. Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have said their airspace and territory cannot be used for attacks by any party.

Meanwhile, Iran has protested at the United Nations over Trump’s threat of a possible attack. if the ongoing diplomacy fails.

In a letter sent Thursday by the Iranian U.N. mission to members of the Security Council, obtained by News themezone, the Islamic Republic called Trump’s “belligerent statement” about the possible use of Diego Garcia in an attack a “flagrant violation” of the U.N. charter and international law that it said risked “plunging the region into a new cycle of crisis and instability.”

The letter said Iran had “engaged constructively, seriously and in good faith, in nuclear talks” with the United States, and called on the UN and its members to “act without delay, before it is too late” to “ensure that the United States immediately ceases its unlawful threats to use force.”