Donald Trump said he was “very disappointed” with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for not allowing the US to use the Diego Garcia air base to carryout strikes on Iran, the Daily Telegraph quoted the US president as saying in an interview.
Britain had reportedly initially denied the US permission to conduct air strikes from its bases, but on Sunday evening Starmer said he was accepting a request for their use in any “defensive” strikes the US wanted to make against Iranian targets.
Starmer on Monday said he stood by his decision not to support initial joint US-Israeli strikes against Iran after US President Donald Trump criticized his approach.
“President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial strikes,” Starmer said after Trump criticized him for taking “too long” to allow US use of air bases.
“But it is my duty to judge what is in Britain’s national interest. That is what I’ve done, and I stand by it.”
In an interview published on Monday Trump told the British newspaper that it took “too long” for Starmer to change his mind.
“That’s probably never happened between our countries before,” he told the Telegraph, adding: “It sounds like he was worried about the legality.”
Trump said Starmer should have approved from the get-go the American use of Diego Garcia – a strategically important US-UK air base in the Indian Ocean – saying Iran was responsible for killing “a lot of people from your country.”
Britain was not involved in the joint US-Israel airstrikes on Iran that killed the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
Since attacks on Iran started on Saturday, Iran has been targeting Gulf countries with missiles, and on Sunday an Iranian-made drone hit Britain’s RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus, causing limited damage and no casualties.
Trump said it was “useful” that the US would now be able to launch operations from Diego Garcia, as he also criticised a deal Starmer has made over the sovereignty of the ChagosIslands, where Diego Garcia is based.
