BigBadBrian
10-26-2012, 08:00 AM
Report: UK denies US access to bases for Gulf buildup
The British government rejected U.S. requests to use military bases in the United Kingdom as part of a build-up in the Gulf, citing legal concerns that a pre-emptive strike on Iran would violate international law, The Guardian reported.
Citing unnamed U.K. officials, the Guardian reported that the United States has made informal requests for access to British bases in Cypress and British territories in the Atlantic and Indian oceans as part of contingency planning for Iran.
But British ministers have responded with legal advice from the U.K. attorney general’s office that says Iran does not currently represent “a clear and present danger.”
As a result, providing assistance to U.S. forces potentially involved in a strike on Iran would violate international law, according to the Guardian.
“The UK would be in breach of international law if it facilitated what amounted to a pre-emptive strike on Iran," said a British defense official. “It is explicit. The government has been using this to push back against the Americans.”
The Obama administration has not made a formal request to the British government for military access. U.K. officials said they did not believe there was any movement toward a conflict, but that the United States was exploring the “British position” on the use of bases.
Pentagon officials did not immediately respond to request for comment on the report. A U.S. State Department official told the Guardian: "The U.S. and the U.K. co-ordinate on all kinds of subjects all the time, on a huge range of issues. We never speak on the record about these types of conversations."
The Obama administration says it wants a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear dispute, although President Obama has said he will not rule out using military force to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Iran insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, while the United States and its allies suspect Iran is seeking nuclear weapons. link (http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/operations/264171-report-uk-denies-us-access-to-bases-for-gulf-buildup)
The British government rejected U.S. requests to use military bases in the United Kingdom as part of a build-up in the Gulf, citing legal concerns that a pre-emptive strike on Iran would violate international law, The Guardian reported.
Citing unnamed U.K. officials, the Guardian reported that the United States has made informal requests for access to British bases in Cypress and British territories in the Atlantic and Indian oceans as part of contingency planning for Iran.
But British ministers have responded with legal advice from the U.K. attorney general’s office that says Iran does not currently represent “a clear and present danger.”
As a result, providing assistance to U.S. forces potentially involved in a strike on Iran would violate international law, according to the Guardian.
“The UK would be in breach of international law if it facilitated what amounted to a pre-emptive strike on Iran," said a British defense official. “It is explicit. The government has been using this to push back against the Americans.”
The Obama administration has not made a formal request to the British government for military access. U.K. officials said they did not believe there was any movement toward a conflict, but that the United States was exploring the “British position” on the use of bases.
Pentagon officials did not immediately respond to request for comment on the report. A U.S. State Department official told the Guardian: "The U.S. and the U.K. co-ordinate on all kinds of subjects all the time, on a huge range of issues. We never speak on the record about these types of conversations."
The Obama administration says it wants a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear dispute, although President Obama has said he will not rule out using military force to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Iran insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, while the United States and its allies suspect Iran is seeking nuclear weapons. link (http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/operations/264171-report-uk-denies-us-access-to-bases-for-gulf-buildup)