LONDON (AP) — Iran has launched missiles at Diego Garcia, an Indian Ocean island that is home to a strategic UK-US military base.
Britain condemned “Iran’s reckless attacks” after the unsuccessful attempt to hit the base. It’s unclear how close the missiles came to the island, which is about 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) from Iran.
Here is what to know about the remote but strategic base.
It’s a hub for US operations in the Middle East and beyond
The US has described the Diego Garcia base as “an all but indispensable platform” for security operations in the Middle East, South Asia, and East Africa.
Home to about 2,500 mostly American personnel, it has supported US military operations from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2008, the US acknowledged it had also been used for clandestine rendition flights of terror suspects.
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Last year, the US deployed several nuclear-capable B-2 Spirit bombers to Diego Garcia amid an intense airstrike campaign targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
This undated image released by US Navy shows an aerial view of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. (US Navy via AP)
Britain initially refused to let the base be used for US attacks on Iran, but after Iran lashed out at its neighbors, the UK said American bombers could use Diego Garcia and another British base to attack Iran’s missile sites. On Friday, the British government said that it includes sites being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The UK insists British bases can only be used for “specific and limited defensive operations.”
But Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer “is putting British lives in danger by allowing UK bases to be used for aggression against Iran.”
Iran currently has a self-imposed limit on its ballistic missile program, limiting their range to 1,240 miles (2,000 kilometers). Diego Garcia is well outside that range. However, US officials long have alleged Iran’s space program could allow it to build intercontinental ballistic missiles
Diego Garcia is part of a contested island chain
Diego Garcia is part of the Chagos Archipelago, a chain of more than 60 islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean off the tip of India. The islands have been under British control since 1814, when they were ceded by France.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Britain evicted as many as 2,000 people from Diego Garcia so the US military could build the base there.
In recent years, criticism has mounted over Britain’s control of the archipelago and the way it forcibly displaced the local population. The United Nations and the International Court of Justice have urged Britain to end its “colonial administration” of the islands and transfer sovereignty to Mauritius.
Protesters advocating for the rights of Chagos Islanders hold a placard and banners outside the World Court in The Hague, Netherlands, September 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Mike Corder)
Trump has criticized UK plans for the island
After long negotiations, the British government struck a deal last year with Mauritius to hand over sovereignty over the islands. Britain would then lease back the Diego Garcia base for at least 99 years.
The UK government says that will safeguard the future of the base, which is currently vulnerable to legal challenge. But the agreement has been criticized by many opposition politicians in Britain who say giving up the islands puts them at risk of interference by China and Russia.
Some of the displaced Chagos islanders and their descendants have also challenged the deal, saying they were not consulted, and it leaves them unclear on whether they will ever be allowed to return to their homeland.
The US administration initially welcomed the deal, but in January, President Donald Trump changed his mind, calling it “an act of GREAT STUPIDITY.”
Starmer’s initial refusal to let the US attack Iran from Diego Garcia further angered Trump, who said earlier this month that “the UK has been very, very uncooperative with that stupid island that they have.”
Passage of the UK-Mauritius deal through Britain’s Parliament has been put on hold until US support can be regained.
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