LONDON, March 2 (Reuters) – Donald Trump said he was “very disappointed” with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for not allowing the U.S. to use the Diego Garcia air base to carry out strikes on Iran, the Daily Telegraph quoted the U.S. president as saying in an interview.
Britain had reportedly initially denied the U.S. 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 U.S. wanted to make against Iranian targets.
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 U.S.-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 U.S.-Israel air strikes 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 U.S. would now be able to launch operations from Diego Garcia, as he also criticised a deal Starmer has made over the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, where Diego Garcia is based.
(Reporting by Sarah YoungEditing by William Schomberg and William James)
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