{"id":14587,"date":"2026-04-07T13:28:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T13:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/14587\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T13:28:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T13:28:11","slug":"starmer-risks-trumps-wrath-as-pm-refuses-to-let-us-use-uk-bases-for-strikes-on-irans-infrastructure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/14587\/","title":{"rendered":"Starmer risks Trump\u2019s wrath as PM \u2018refuses to let US use UK bases\u2019 for strikes on Iran\u2019s infrastructure"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK is expected to refuse to allow Donald Trump <\/a>to use RAF bases for strikes on Iranian infrastructure,<\/a> including bridges or power plants<\/a>, risking the wrath of the US president.<\/p>\n

Mr Trump has threatened to unleash \u201chell\u201d on civilian infrastructure in Iran<\/a> as he ramps up pressure on Tehran to reopen the blockaded Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, warning on Tuesday that \u201ca whole civilization will die tonight\u201d unless a deal is agreed.<\/p>\n

The UK previously granted the United States permission to use British military bases including Diego Garcia<\/a> in the Indian Ocean and RAF Fairford<\/a> in Gloucestershire for \u201cdefensive\u201d strikes on Iranian missile sites.<\/p>\n

\"Donald<\/p>\n

Donald Trump has threatened to attack Iranian infrastructure if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened (Niall Carson\/PA) (PA Wire)<\/p>\n

Asked whether the government would prevent UK assets being used for strikes on infrastructure, first reported by The i Paper, the prime minister\u2019s official spokesman reiterated that the UK has only agreed for the US to use British bases for “collective self defence of the region”.<\/p>\n

He said: “We won\u2019t be providing a running commentary on our allies’ operations including the use of our bases.<\/p>\n

“Our position on this hasn’t changed. The agreement is for US to use bases for collective self defence of the region, including US defensive operations to degrade missile sites and capabilities used to attack ships in the Straits of Hormuz.”<\/p>\n

The spokesperson added: “The principles behind the UK’s approach to the conflict remains the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain committed to defending our people, our interests and our allies, acting in audience with international law and not getting drawn into the wider conflict.”<\/p>\n

It comes amid warnings from international law experts that targeting civilian bridges and power plants would constitute a war crime.<\/p>\n

Refusing to allow US permission for such strikes is likely to worsen already fractious relations between Sir Keir Starmer<\/a> and Donald Trump<\/a>, which have been increasingly strained in recent months as the prime minister refuses to be drawn into the wider Iran<\/a> war.<\/p>\n

Downing Street\u2019s decision to double down on its position on the conflict comes just one day after Mr Trump took another swipe at Sir Keir, comparing him to former UK prime minister Neville Chamberlain, who appeased the Nazis in the 1930s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe won\u2019t want another Neville Chamberlain, do we agree? We don\u2019t want Neville Chamberlain\u201d, the US president said.<\/p>\n

Repeating his threat of strikes on civilian infrastructure in Iran, Mr Trump said that the country will have \u201cno bridges… no power plants… no anything\u201d unless they submit to his demands.<\/p>\n

He said he \u201cwon\u2019t go further, because there are other things that are worse than those two\u201d, adding: \u201cIf I had my choice, what would I like to do? Take the oil. Because it\u2019s there for the taking. There\u2019s not a thing they can do about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately the American people would like to see us come home. If it were up to me I\u2019d take the oil, I\u2019d keep the oil [\u2026] make plenty of money and I\u2019d also take care of the people of Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: \u201cThe UK authorised the United States to use British bases for defensive missions to destroy Iran\u2019s missile capabilities which are threatening British people, bases, and our partners in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States is using British bases for specific defensive operations to prevent Iran firing missiles into the region, which is putting British lives at risk. This is alongside the defensive action the UK is taking to protect British people across the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe won\u2019t be providing a running commentary on our allies\u2019 operations, including their use of our bases.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UK is expected to refuse to allow Donald Trump to use RAF bases for strikes on Iranian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9902,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[11945,11943,11420,12,2042,34,264,5322,11004,6733,11942,11944,67,271,1768],"class_list":{"0":"post-14587","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-keir-starmer","8":"tag-british-bases","9":"tag-defensive-operations","10":"tag-diego-garcia","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-infrastructure","13":"tag-iran","14":"tag-keir-starmer","15":"tag-mr-trump","16":"tag-neville-chamberlain","17":"tag-power-plants","18":"tag-raf-bases","19":"tag-raf-fairford","20":"tag-strait-of-hormuz","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-uk-prime-minister"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116363664172974052","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}