U.S. President Donald Trump vented his frustration at U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer for delaying approval to use a Royal Air Force base for strikes on Iran.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph on the 2nd, Trump said regarding permission to use the Diego Garcia base in the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, "Prime Minister Starmer took far too long to change his position," adding he was "very disappointed." He said a situation such as denying base access in bilateral relations was unprecedented, and noted that Starmer became fixated on questions of international legal legitimacy and failed to make a decision.
Earlier, the White House had included using the Diego Garcia base and the RAF Fairford base in Gloucestershire in plans for military operations against Iran, but the U.K. government had refused, citing potential violations of international law. However, on the night of the 1st, Starmer shifted his stance, saying he would accept the use of the Diego Garcia base only for "specific and limited defensive purposes" to prevent Iran's regional missile launches. In response, Trump recalled that Iran bore responsibility for taking the lives of many Britons in the past and argued that Starmer should have approved the base use from the outset.
Trump also escalated his criticism by again calling the U.K.'s decision to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius "stupid." The Chagos Archipelago lies outside the range of Iran's ballistic missiles yet within the operating range of the U.S. B-2 bomber, making it a key strategic point. The U.K. last year struck an agreement to hand sovereignty to Mauritius while re-leasing the Diego Garcia base for at least 99 years, but Trump said retaining ownership would have been far better legally and strategically.
Meanwhile, immediately after Starmer released the base-use approval, the RAF's Akrotiri base in Cyprus came under attack by Iran's Shahed suicide drones, signaling real reprisals against the U.K.'s military assets. The Korean government also issued a special travel advisory for seven countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in response to the spread of warfare across the Middle East, and is working to safeguard the roughly 17,000 citizens staying there.