The deal could see the UK obligated to inform Mauritius, an ally of Iran, of any attack (Image: Getty)
The Government’s controversial deal to relinquish sovereignty of the Chagos Islands could limit the United States’ ability to intervene in the Iran and Israel conflict. Under the terms of the agreement, which will see Britain pay ￡30 billion to lease back use of the Diego Garcia airbase, Britain will be obligated to inform Mauritius of any future air strikes “on a third party” launched from it.
A clause in the agreement states that the UK “agrees to expeditiously inform Mauritius of any armed attack on a third state directly emanating from the base on Diego Garcia,” with failure to do so leaving the UK open to legal action if they fail to do so. The base is shared by the UK and the US, meaning in theory that the US would also be obligated to inform Mauritius of strikes on Iran, despite the country being an ally of Tehran. Whitehall officials argue that Mauritius would only need to be informed after an attack, not before, although the wording of the clause does not say so explicitly.
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Professor Philippe Sands KC, Professor of the Public Understanding of Law at University College London told a committee examining the implications of the deal: "I can confirm that the words “agrees to expeditiously inform Mauritius”, et cetera, allow for a reading which is that such information is to be provided after the event, not necessarily before the event.”
His response was described as “cautious” by the committee’s chair, Lord Goldsmith.
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Shadow Armed Forces Minister, Mark Francois, told the Express: “It is both military and financial madness to pay ￡30 billion for a strategic facility we already own, especially if we have to inform third countries when the runway is being used for specific military action.
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“The more you look at the detail of this deal, the crazier it becomes.”
Donald Trump has said that he will make a decision on any attack on Iran in the next two weeks, with the base's proximity and arsenal of B-2 long-range bombers making the Diego Garcia a strategically vital asset.
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Mark Francois has called the deal "crazy" (Image: Getty)
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Kemi Badenoch has said she would “in principle” support the US using the Diego Garcia base in a potential strike on Iran.
“I don’t think the US or Israel would be rushing into something unless there was a serious threat to global security,” she said.
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Mauritius and Iran are known to have good relations with the two countries in talks about opening branches of Iranian universities in the African country.
Critics have also questioned the security implications of giving up sovereignty of the island to a country that is allied with China.
The Express has contacted MOD for comment, but a spokesperson told the Telegraph: “I’m not going to get into hypothetical situations and I’m not going to speculate,” when asked if the US could launch attacks from the airbase.