Where does the ‘Special Relationship’ stand after war with Iran?

We British love to talk about the “Special Relationship” between the United Kingdom and the United States, because it can mean whatever you want it to mean. It can be proof of the enduring bond between the two Anglophone nations, or a relic which demonstrates why Britain needs to rethink its global posture.

Self-evidently it matters more to Britain, the world’s sixth-largest economy with a population of 70 million, than it ever will to America, the biggest economy and home to nearly 350 million. Recently, as President Trump authorized the beginning of Operation Epic Fury against Iran, it has been placed under renewed strain.

Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, were never going to be soulmates: a reckless, bombastic, cartoonish New York child of privilege who believes himself infallible, and a blank-faced, nitpicking sanctimonious human rights lawyer who views the messy compromises of politics with contempt. Clearly Starmer would have preferred a Kamala Harris presidency, but he has so far negotiated the worst obstacles and occasionally managed to win over Trump in ways that have eluded other world leaders. But the true test of a friendship is when one party needs something. That was where the “Special Relationship” hit its most recent, bone-jarring bump.

More than a week before the conflict started on Feb. 28, the United States had requested permission to use facilities at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire in south-west England and Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for the planned campaign. The American military has been using both for decades: Fairford is governed by the NATO Status of Forces Agreement 1951, while arrangements at Diego Garcia are contained in an exchange of notes from 1966.

Trump will have expected the answer yes: not simply because he expects allies to be obedient and deferential, but because permission has almost without exception been granted in the past. Margaret Thatcher even allowed RAF Fairford to be used for the U.S. bombing of Libya in April 1986, when France, Italy and Spain refused overflight rights and the use of air bases.

Starmer refused, reportedly on legal advice from the attorney general, Lord Richard Hermer, that the U.S. and Israeli strikes were not authorized under international law. Allowing the bases to be used would have given Britain what the UN calls “knowledge of the circumstances of the internationally wrongful act.”

This response infuriated President Trump and he blamed the prime minister personally. He told White House reporters a few days later:

“I’m not happy with the UK either. That island that you heard about [the Chagos Islands], the lease, OK, you made it—for whatever reason, he made a lease of the island. Somebody came and took it away from him and it’s taken three or four days for us to work out where we can land. There would have been much more convenient landing there as opposed to flying many extra hours. So, we are very surprised. This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”

By this time, the situation had developed. Iran’s missile and drone counterattacks had endangered the 200,000 British citizens in the region as well as military personnel, and a drone had struck RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. Starmer announced on March 1:

“The United States has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose. We have taken the decision to accept this request… that is in accordance with international law.”

Royal Air Force jets took part in missions to intercept Iranian missiles and drones, and Britain announced the deployment of a Type 45 air defense destroyer, HMS Dragon, to Cyprus. Later, the Ministry of Defense briefed that it had placed one of the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers, HMS Prince of Wales, on “advanced readiness,” ready to put to sea at five days’ notice.

None of this placated or reassured President Trump. On March 7, he launched another broadside on Truth Social.

“The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East. That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer—But we will remember. We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!”

Starmer, taking a strict interpretation of international law, made a near-unprecedented decision to deny America use of airbases it had relied upon during the bombing of Libya, the First Gulf War, NATO’s bombing of Yugoslavia, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and countless reconnaissance missions for 75 years. Whether right or wrong, that choice would inevitably anger Washington, a diplomatic and political cost which Starmer must now manage.

There may be another consequence. It took the Royal Navy a week to prepare HMS Dragon to leave the U.K. and sail for Cyprus. Its only previous significant warship in the Gulf, the Type 23 frigate HMS Lancaster, left service in December last year, and the last vessel of any kind, HMS Middleton, was transported home during February. Britain has only deployed an additional four fighter aircraft and four helicopters to the region this month.

The White House faced facilities being put off-limits for the initial strikes by one of its closest allies, which then made them available only under specific and limited (though virtually unenforceable) strictures. That same ally has had few assets stationed in the region. Now, as America prepares to use force to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Starmer has refused Trump’s demand for a military contribution to that effort and has urged a negotiated settlement. The president responded that it was “very disappointing.”

All of that could lead a volatile President Trump to wonder how reliable the U.K. is, and what it really brings to the table. Asking those questions would strike at several foundations of the Special Relationship.

Eliot Wilson is a writer and historian and Senior Fellow for National Security at the Coalition for Global Prosperity. He is contributing editor for Defence on the Brink.

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