British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has reportedly blocked U.S. planes from using British bases to attack Iran.
Starmer told U.S. President Donald Trump that he wouldn’t allow American forces to use certain “British facilities” to carry out attacks on the Iranian regime, according to The Times.
“Under the terms of long-standing agreements with Washington, these bases can only be used for military operations against third countries that have been agreed in advance with the government,” the Times noted.
BREAKING:
UK blocks US from using British bases for strikes on Iran. pic.twitter.com/S5NR7L9PMl
— Globe Eye News (@GlobeEyeNews) February 19, 2026
Trump responded by withdrawing his support for the Chagos Islands (British Indian Ocean Territory, or BIOT) deal.
The Chagos Islands are a remote archipelago in the Indian Ocean. In the 1960s–1970s, the UK detached them from Mauritius (then a British colony) to create BIOT and evicted the indigenous Chagossian population to make way for a major joint UK-US military base on the largest island, Diego Garcia.
Mauritius long expressed anger over this decision. But in May of last year, Starmer and Mauritius’ leadership finally signed a deal saying that the UK would return the entire Chagos Archipelago (including Diego Garcia) to Mauritius.
While Trump previously supported the deal, he seemed to renege on it in a Truth Social post published Wednesday by suggesting that he’ll need access to Diego Garcia to attack Iran:
NEW – BREAKING
PRESIDENT TRUMP SLAMS CHAGOS DEAL AGAIN – STARMER IS “LOSING CONTROL” – “DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA”
Huge intervention on Truth Social
Chagos deal now dead pic.twitter.com/j718sQpIid
— Ross Kempsell (@RossKempsell) February 18, 2026
“Should Iran decide not to make a Deal, it may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia, and the Airfield located in Fairford, in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous Regime — An attack that would potentially be made on the United Kingdom, as well as other friendly Countries,” he wrote.
“Prime Minister Starmer should not lose control, for any reason, of Diego Garcia, by entering a tenuous, at best, 100 Year Lease. This land should not be taken away from the U.K. and, if it is allowed to be, it will be a blight on our Great Ally,” he added.
Conservatives in the U.K. government are now pushing for Starmer to allow the use of the bases.
“Iran’s nuclear program has been a grave threat to Britain and our allies,” Shadow Defense Secretary James Cartlidge reportedly said. “If the US judges that further action is needed to deal with that specific threat, and if again we believe such action is in our national interest and to protect vital UK security interests, then we should grant the use of our bases.”
All this comes as tension between the U.S. and Iran continues to mount over the fate of a proposed nuclear deal.
The president said on Friday that he’s “considering” using a limited military strike on Iran to pressure its mullahs into a deal, according to Fox News.
“We’re either going to get a deal, or it’s going to be unfortunate for them,” he’d reiterated the day before:
.@POTUS on Iran: “We’re going to get a deal one way or the other… We’re either going to get a deal or it’s going to be unfortunate for them.” pic.twitter.com/qkLuQwJ53X
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 19, 2026
“[P]reliminary US strikes on Iran could begin within days, targeting some military or government sites but stopping short of a full-scale assault that could trigger a major Iranian response,” according to The Times of Israel.
The key, though, is that “[i]f Iran continues to reject Trump’s demand that it give up its uranium enrichment program, the US will launch a wider assault on regime targets, with the possible aim of toppling the Islamic Republic.”
American and Iranian negotiators reportedly held their second round of nuclear talks in Geneva on Tuesday.
“Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the talks ‘constructive,’ even as US Vice President JD Vance said Iran had not accepted all of Trump’s ‘red lines,'” the Times of Israel noted.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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