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  • 3 weeks ago
President Donald Trump has expressed disappointment with United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer for blocking the use of Diego Garcia base to carry out strikes on Iran.
Transcript
00:05All right, the next set of news break that is coming in is from President Trump.
00:10Now, President Trump says to the U.S. media that he's very disappointed in U.K. Prime Minister Stammer
00:18for blocking him for using the Diego Garcia base to carry out strikes on Iran.
00:22All of this at a time where you have the U.K. that has allowed certain bases of the United
00:29Kingdom
00:29to be used by America to carry out strikes in Iran.
00:34But it does seem that this claim also throws off a little bit in terms of one particular base
00:42is what President Trump is accusing the United Kingdom and the Prime Minister,
00:47Keir Stammer, of blocking America from using.
00:51And he's named that particular base as Diego Garcia base and says that he's disappointed in the United Kingdom
00:58that he's not being allowed to use the Diego Garcia base to carry out strikes on Iran.
01:07All right, I'm going to connect to our Foreign Affairs Editor, Gita Mohan, for the latest that is coming in.
01:12But I'm going to take our viewers through the latest statement.
01:14All of this is in light of the fact, viewers, that United Kingdom has allowed America
01:21to use multiple bases and ports to attack Iran.
01:26In principle, the United Kingdom has backed the military action
01:30and the joint operation of America and Israel on Iran.
01:35But having said that, President Trump has now confirmed to the U.S. media
01:39that he seemingly is disappointed in U.K. Prime Minister Stammer
01:43for blocking him from using the Diego Garcia base in order to carry out strikes on Iran.
01:56All right, so that's the latest news that is coming in.
01:59It's interesting, quite contradictory as well in nature
02:02because earlier on you've heard the U.K. Prime Minister say
02:07that in principle he stands with America and Israel in this joint operation.
02:14And I have Gita Mohan now, a Foreign Affairs Editor, who could add more to it.
02:18Gita, a little bit contradictory because earlier on the U.K. had allowed America
02:23to use multiple bases to carry out attacks on Iran.
02:28But now it seems President Trump is accusing the U.K. Prime Minister
02:32from blocking him to use one particular port, which is the Diego Garcia base,
02:38to carry out strikes on Iran.
02:40Well, it's a very important piece of the story over here, Preeti,
02:44because it's unlike any other base in any other country.
02:48This is the Chagos Island that had gone to the international court
02:52as a dispute between Mauritius and the U.K.
02:55and Mauritius won.
02:57And the U.K. has formally allowed the takeover of Chagos by Mauritius,
03:05which is what Trump had objected to earlier,
03:08saying that they had no right to do that
03:10because it hosts Diego Garcia, one of the most important bases.
03:15But that base is maintained by the United Kingdom.
03:18And yes, at this juncture, after having lost the case,
03:24it doesn't seem like the U.K. wants to involve Diego Garcia,
03:28for which maintenance actually is sent by the United States of America.
03:33So this is a very complex and a sensitive issue and topic over here.
03:37So Trump has been fighting this for a while.
03:40He, in fact, has said that we'll take over Diego Garcia on our own in the past too.
03:44So this is another front that Trump has opened up now
03:48with the U.K. wanting Diego Garcia under their control,
03:51given that the U.K. is not giving in to America's demands.
03:56But that has to do with the complexity of the case that they lost.
04:01Chagos Island is no longer a British territory.
04:06Mauritius won that case.
04:08And the U.K. has agreed to the handover.
04:12So a very sensitive but layered issue,
04:15a piece that we were not looking at,
04:17but now we're looking at because of the fact that
04:21should Diego Garcia be allowed to be...
04:24But Geeta, you know, what's really interesting is
04:26this all comes at a time where the United Kingdom
04:28has primarily backed the joint operation of the U.S. and Israel on Iran
04:34to now open up another front against the U.K.,
04:37which clearly is your ally in this operation.
04:40Well, that's right.
04:41But Trump does not care about these things
04:42and certainly does not care about Keir Starmer personally,
04:46given the party that he belongs to, Preeti.
04:48So he has picked up beef against Keir Starmer in the past
04:53and he will continue to do so.
04:55This is a very important moment.
04:57And in all probability, if Diego Garcia is allowed to operate
05:00and if Americans are allowed to operate from there,
05:04the entire Indian Ocean front for America
05:07is going to be a very comfortable space.
05:11Remember, a lot of the covert ops have taken place from Diego Garcia.
05:16Diego Garcia gives not just a front but also cover
05:19to quite a few of the operations that are carried out in the region.
05:23And therefore, this is an important issue that Trump is raising.
05:27But he's raising it against Keir Starmer, the U.K.,
05:31a country and certainly a prime minister
05:34that Trump has not had great terms with.
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