Iran will target Britain’s Chagos base if Trump attacks

Claim comes after US president threatens military action if regime does not make nuclear deal

by Akhtar Makoii

Iran has warned that it will target British forces in the Chagos Islands if Donald Trump attacks the Middle Eastern nation.

After Mr Trump threatened military action against the regime if it did not make a deal with the US over its nuclear programme, a senior Iranian military official told The Telegraph that Tehran would strike the joint US-UK naval base on Diego Garcia in response to any US attack.

“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,” he said on Saturday.

He added: “When the time comes, it won’t matter whether you’re an American, British, or Turkish soldier – you will be targeted if your base is used by Americans.”

Iranian state media said that Tehran would strike the Diego Garcia facility with ballistic missiles and suicide drones in retaliation for any US “hostile action against the Iranian nation”.

It warned: “Iran possesses adequate weapons for such an attack from its mainland, such as newer versions of the Khorramshahr missile that have an intermediate range, and the Shahed-136B kamikaze drone with a range of 4,000km [2,485 miles]”.

The base, it added, was in Tehran’s crosshairs because it is home to a strategic bomber force capable of striking Iran’s underground facilities.

“The B-2 Spirit, a bomber with long range, payload, and advanced stealth features, is often cited as an ideal platform for delivering heavy bombs to Iranian underground facilities.

“In such a scenario, the bomber would certainly take off from NSF Diego Garcia, making the 3,800km-away base a target for an Iranian retaliatory operation.”

At least three B-2 spirit bombers arrived at the outpost this week, satellite imagery showed.

A UK government spokesman said: “We condemn these threats in the strongest terms. The UK Government continues to work with partners across the region to encourage de-escalation. The base on Diego Garcia is vital to UK and US security and plays a crucial role in maintaining regional and international security.”

Iranian state media listed the Diego Garcia base as a potential target alongside other US military locations across Asia and the Middle East, including a naval base in Bahrain close to a Royal Navy support facility.

Four B-2 bombers at Diego Garcia, after a previous satellite image last week had shown three of the aircraft Credit: Planet Labs PBC

Diego Garcia is the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago – British sovereign territory that the Government wants to hand over to Mauritius.

The base, which has been a joint UK-US facility since the 1970s, has been a key point of contention in the deal to give up the islands.

There are believed to be about 4,000 US and British personnel on the island, made up of servicemen and civilian contractors.

The British detachment reportedly numbers around 40 people who provide police and customs services. A small contingent of Royal Marines undertakes security duties.

As part of the Government’s proposed deal with Mauritius, Diego Garcia would be leased back to the UK at a reported annual cost of £90 million, allowing military operations to continue.

Since returning to office, Mr Trump has restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran, which aims to stop it obtaining a nuclear weapon by driving its oil exports down to zero.

But he has also expressed interest in quickly negotiating a “verified nuclear peace agreement” with the Islamic regime.

On Friday, the US president warned Iran that “very bad things will happen” if Tehran fails to agree to a nuclear deal.

He said: “I sent them a letter just recently, and I said: you have to make a decision, one way or the other, and we either have to talk and talk it out or very bad things are going to happen to Iran.

“I don’t want that to happen. My big preference – and I don’t say this through strength or weakness – my big preference is, we work it out with Iran. But if we don’t work it out, bad, bad things are going to happen to Iran.”

Iranian state media said Tehran would strike the Diego Garcia facility with ballistic missiles and suicide drones in retaliation for ‘hostile action’ Credit: AFP

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, has banned direct talks with the US, saying: “No problem will be solved by negotiating with America.”

A political science professor at a university near Tehran said: “They [the regime] would do anything to survive in the event of an attack – the regime would be like a wounded wild animal, striking at everything in sight.”

He added: “They are convinced they wouldn’t survive and know that neither Russia nor China would come to their help. The memory of Assad’s fate still lives here.

“The regime has only one option: to engage and negotiate with Trump. They don’t have good memories of him and know that when he makes a promise, he follows through.”

Mr Trump sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader earlier this month, urging Iran to negotiate and warning that military intervention would be “terrible”.

On Thursday, Iran confirmed it had responded to Mr Trump’s letter, neither rejecting talks outright nor agreeing to direct negotiations.

Kamal Kharazi, a senior adviser to Khamenei, said that the regime had not closed all doors to diplomacy and was open to indirect talks with the US.

Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said that Tehran had sent its reply through Oman, outlining its stance on Mr Trump’s proposals and Middle Eastern affairs.

He added that Iran would not engage in direct negotiations under US pressure but remained open to indirect discussions, as in the past.