UK allows US to use Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford to strike Iranian missiles

The United Kingdom has agreed to a United States request to use British military bases, including Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford, for “specific and limited defensive” strikes to destroy Iranian missiles at their source, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said. The move, he said, is intended to stop Iran launching waves of missile and drone attacks that could kill civilians and put British lives at risk.

Sir Keir framed the decision as grounded in “the collective self-defence of longstanding friends and allies, and protecting British lives,” and said the action is “in line with international law.” The government has said it will publish a summary of the legal advice that supported its decision and will notify the United Nations about the use of British bases.

Starmer emphasised that the United Kingdom “will not join offensive action now,” and said the United States had sought permission for a narrowly defined purpose: to destroy missiles “at source” in storage depots or in the launchers used to fire them. He warned that Tehran’s campaign was pursuing a “scorched-earth strategy” and was “becoming even more reckless.”

The prime minister also said UK aircraft were already “in the sky” in the Middle East as part of a defensive operation to protect allies and British citizens, and that British aircraft had successfully intercepted Iranian strikes. He stressed the scale of the human stakes, saying at least 200,000 British citizens are in the region, “including residents, those on holidays and passengers in transit,” and that the government “will continue to do all we can to support” them.

Government statements that accompanied Starmer’s remarks described the requested US use of bases as intended to prevent Iran “firing missiles across the region, killing innocent civilians, putting British lives at risk and hitting countries that have not been involved.” Officials named Diego Garcia, the joint military base in the Indian Ocean, and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire among the sites to be used.

Key operational details were not disclosed. The government has not published which specific US units, aircraft or personnel will operate from the named bases, nor has it provided a list of targets or given a timetable for any strikes. The precise scope of UK support beyond granting basing permission remains unclear.

The government’s pledge to publish a summary of legal advice is likely to be central to public and parliamentary scrutiny. Sir Keir invoked lessons from the “mistakes of Iraq” in defending the government’s position, signalling an awareness of the political sensitivity of authorising foreign strikes from UK territory.

By permitting US forces to operate from British soil for defensive strikes, the government has tied UK infrastructure directly into a transatlantic campaign aimed at degrading Tehran’s missile capability. The decision increases the logistical reach of US forces while raising questions for ministers and lawmakers about oversight, legal justification and the potential for escalation in a volatile region. Further clarification from Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence will be required on operational limits, the identity of US personnel to be based in the UK, and the timing and targets of any action.