On September 19, 2025, personnel from the US Air Force's 501st Combat Support Wing and the 307th Bomb Wing were seen approaching a B-52 Stratofortress bomber at Royal Air Force Fairford in the UK. According to reports from multiple British media outlets citing government sources, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has refused a request from US President Donald Trump to allow American forces to use UK air bases for any potential preemptive strike against Iran. The reported reason for the refusal is that such action could violate international law.
The Times, which first reported the disagreement over base access, stated that Starmer has explicitly denied the US use of RAF Fairford on British soil, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, for any military operations targeting Iran. These two bases have long served as critical forward operating locations for US military missions far from American soil, with Diego Garcia being a core airfield for US heavy bomber fleets.
Citing UK government sources, The Times reported that British authorities are concerned that permitting the US to use these bases "would breach international law—which states that both the attacking nation and the supporting nation bear equal responsibility if the supporting country is 'aware of the specific circumstances of an internationally wrongful act'." The BBC, The Guardian, and The Daily Telegraph subsequently cited their own sources to report on the UK's refusal.
Under a longstanding UK-US agreement, US requests to use British military bases for combat operations are typically considered on a case-by-case basis, with specific approval criteria kept confidential for security reasons. In response to an inquiry from independent MP Jeremy Corbyn, UK Veterans Minister Al Kearns previously stated that "all decisions on whether to approve foreign use of UK-based military facilities for combat operations consider the legal basis and policy rationale for the proposed action," as reported by the UK's Defence Journal in January of this year.
The diplomatic dispute escalated following a phone call between Starmer and Trump on Tuesday evening, during which they discussed issues concerning the Middle East and European peace. The next day, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, withdrawing his support for a UK agreement to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The archipelago is home to the joint UK-US naval support facility at Diego Garcia. The original agreement involved transferring sovereignty to Mauritius in exchange for a 99-year lease on the military base.
CNN has contacted the White House for comment on the matter.
The Chagos Islands have been a long-standing source of diplomatic friction. The UK separated the archipelago from Mauritian territory before its independence, leading to numerous legal disputes with displaced islanders. In 2019, the International Court of Justice ruled that the UK should return the islands "as rapidly as possible" to complete the decolonization process. The UK government has since been advancing agreements for the islands' return, arguing that a lease compromise could avoid costly and potentially futile litigation while maintaining military access in the Indian Ocean.
Trump had initially opposed the UK-Mauritius agreement but stated in early February that it was "the best outcome Britain could get under the current circumstances." However, amid a significant US military buildup in the Middle East potentially aimed at Iran, Trump abruptly reversed his position. On Truth Social, he wrote that Starmer's agreement to sign a lease with Mauritius was a "major mistake," claiming the Prime Minister was "losing control of this vital island to the claims of some entities that are, in our view, essentially fictitious."
Just one day prior, the US State Department had issued a statement saying Washington "supports the UK's decision to move forward with an agreement with Mauritius." When questioned about the contradiction between Trump's post and the State Department's statement, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt stated that the President's post should be considered the "policy" of the Trump administration.
In his post, Trump directly referenced the two air bases mentioned in British media reports, describing them as crucial for a potential strike on Iran. "To eliminate a potential attack from a highly unstable and dangerous regime, the United States may need to use the facilities at Diego Garcia and the airfields at Fairford," Trump wrote.
Regarding military implications, when US B-2 bombers conducted a one-time strike on Iranian nuclear facilities in June of last year, they did not use Diego Garcia or Fairford. Instead, those stealth bombers flew round-trip missions of approximately 37 hours from their home base in Missouri. However, analysts suggest that any future US attack on Iran could involve a large-scale campaign lasting weeks or longer. In such an operation, using bases like Diego Garcia and Fairford, which are thousands of miles closer to Iran, would significantly reduce the turnaround time for B-2, B-1, and B-52 bombers to rearm, refuel, and return to action, thereby enhancing strike efficiency.
While the US might secure access to other bases in friendly nations near Iran, using those facilities could potentially expose valuable US heavy bomber fleets to the range of retaliatory missile strikes from Iran.
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