Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 22, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleThe UK was informed of US strikes on Iran but received no request for base use. Britain is preparing for potential evacuations amid rising tensions.
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain was informed of the U.S. military strikes on Iran ahead of time, but did not receive any U.S. request for their shared Diego Garcia air base in the Indian Ocean to be used, senior minister Jonathan Reynolds said on Sunday.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he had "obliterated" Iran's main nuclear sites in strikes overnight, in a major new escalation of conflict in the Middle East as Tehran vowed to reserve all options to defend itself.
Reynolds said Britain had not taken part in the strikes, though it had previously moved military assets to the region and would take "all action necessary" to defend its key allies if they came under threat. He added that Prime Minister Keir Starmer was talking to Britain's allies on Sunday.
"I know often because of British military assets, RAF Akrotiri (in Cyprus) or Diego Garcia, sometimes that request is made. And this was not a situation where that request was made," Reynolds, the business and trade minister, told Sky News.
Diego Garcia is a strategically important UK-U.S. military base located in the Chagos Islands.
Reynolds said Britain knew about the strike in advance.
"I can't tell you exactly when we did know, but we were informed, as you might expect," he said.
Reynolds said that the government was in "active conversations" about chartering aircraft to get people out of the region within "hours, not days", pending the possible reopening of Israeli airspace.
Britain's foreign ministry said it was preparing for a charter flight "early next week", adding that British nationals and their dependants in Israel and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories who were interested should register their details.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Kate Holton and Helen Popper)
No, Britain did not take part in the strikes, although it had moved military assets to the region.
The UK was informed of the strikes in advance and stated it would take necessary actions to defend its allies.
The UK's foreign ministry is preparing for a charter flight to evacuate British nationals and their dependants from Israel and the Palestinian territories.
No request was made for the use of the Diego Garcia air base during the US strikes on Iran.
Diego Garcia is a strategically important UK-U.S. military base located in the Chagos Islands.
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