British troops at risk over UK bases role in USIran tensions politicians warn

British politicians have warned that UK support for the US as it threatens to attack Iran is "putting us all at risk".

The warning comes after military officials in Tehran warned that Iran could attack British forces in the Chagos Islands in retaliation for a potential US attack launched from there.

Speaking to Middle East Eye as US-Iran tensions escalate, Deputy Green Party leader Zack Polanski - a member of the London Assembly - argued that it is "deeply irresponsible for our international policy to always be tied into American interests".

Independent MP Ayoub Khan told MEE that the UK, "as a key US ally", should "encourage restraint and work towards de-escalation rather than allowing tensions to spiral into yet another devastating conflict".

The comments came as President Donald Trump faces difficulty mustering support among American allies in the Middle East for his increasingly belligerent policy towards Iran.

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After he threatened to bomb the country last week, key allies in the Gulf - including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar - imposed a ban on US warplanes using their air fields or airspace to attack Iran.

That was a huge setback for the Trump administration, which is attempting to pressure Tehran to negotiate a new nuclear deal.

However, Washington has another ally which is proving crucial to its strategy: Britain.

Chagos Islands

Deep in the Indian Ocean are a group of some 60 islands that represent the last remains of Britain's empire in the region.

Last week Trump gave his assent to a deal that will see the UK cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

Keir Starmer's government policy on the territory has provoked outrage among opposition parliamentarians.

The deal involves Mauritius allowing a joint UK-US military base to remain on the largest island, Diego Garcia, on a long lease.

A hugely strategic base, Diego Garcia was the reason Britain pushed to retain the Chagos Islands when Mauritius won its independence in 1968.

Between 1968 and 1973, the British government forcibly expelled the entire population of the territory - between 1,500 and 2,000 people - so a base on Diego Garcia could be leased to the US.

The base puts US bomber aircraft within just 5,300 kilometres of Iran and could allow them to attack Iran while avoiding Gulf airspace.

In the past week the US has moved six B-2 Spirit stealth bombers to the Chagos Islands.

The bombers are capable of carrying 30,000-pound “bunker-buster” bombs that could destroy crucial military sites in Iran, including its underground nuclear sites.

Military planners have left the planes outside of their hangers and allowed them to be captured by satellite imagery, which commentators have described as a deliberate tactic meant as a warning to Iran.

Six Stratotanker in-flight refuelling aircraft have also been captured by satellite imagery on the island, giving the stealth bombers the ability to fly to Iran and back.

The revelations follow Trump's threat to attack Iran with a "bombing the likes of which they have never seen before" if the country doesn't agree to a nuclear deal. 

On Monday, Trump said that if direct talks between US officials and Iranian leaders fail, "Iran is going to be in great danger."

Asked if the US was preparing to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, he replied: "Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and if the talks aren't successful I actually think it will be a very bad day for Iran if that's the case."

National security adviser Mike Waltz said recently that the US wanted to see a “full dismantlement” of Tehran’s nuclear capabilities, which Iran has strongly rejected.

With its Chagos base, Britain has become an important player in the American pressure campaign against Iran, which will likely be helpful to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's aim of strengthening the UK's relationship with the US.

But the American posturing is reliant on the assumption that Iran cannot inflict devastating attacks on US interests and that of its allies.

Any significant attack on Iran's nuclear facilities is likely to be met with retaliatory action that could jeopardise the UK.

British forces at risk

If tensions between the US and Iran escalate, the UK's role may open the Labour government up to further domestic criticism. 

British army personnel risk being caught in the line of fire and have already faced threats by Iranian military officials. 

Last week, the Telegraph reported that Iranian army officials called for a preemptive strike on the Diego Garcia military base.

An official in Tehran said: "Discussions about the island have intensified since the Americans deployed bombers there."

Another senior military official was quoted as warning: "There will be no distinction in targeting British or American forces if Iran is attacked from any base in the region or within the range of Iranian missiles."

Iran's Khorramshahr ballistic missiles and Shahed-136B kamikaze drones have the range to attack the base, which houses around 4,000 people mostly American military personnel and contractors.

Parliamentarian Khan told MEE: "Rather than putting troops in harm’s way and fueling another war with unforeseeable consequences, world leaders must commit to diplomacy as the primary tool for conflict resolution.

"There is always an alternative to war, and it is the duty of responsible nations to pursue it."

Polanski said: "It's becoming clearer on a daily basis that the so-called special relationship is putting all of us at risk.

"Being democratically elected does not change the fact that Trump is a danger to his own country and to the world at large."

The Green Party has previously criticised Iranian attacks on Israel, while criticising Britain's military involvement in defending Israel.

Party co-leader and MP Carla Denyer said after Iran attacked Israel in June that the party was "concerned by the use of British aircraft in the night’s events.  

"We question why Britain should be involved in this confrontation, where there is a risk that we could become embroiled in a regional war."

Polanski strongly opposes the direction British policy is currently moving in.

"At the exact time that we should be influencing the global conversation towards peace and justice," he warned, "we are aligning ourselves with someone [Trump] determined to create more war."

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