In his latest statement following the Geneva talks, Trump threatened Iran with an attack from Diego Garcia. Diego Garcia is the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, located approximately 3,800 kilometers from Iran.The island hosts U.S. strategic bombers at a joint U.S.-British airbase.
Kabul 24: The United States has previously used this tropical island for bombing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.In his tweet tonight, Trump once again criticized the British Labour government’s decision to return the Chagos Islands to the African nation of Mauritius.
It should be noted that last year, after decades of legal disputes by Mauritius, Britain ended its 210-year sovereignty over the Chagos Islands. However, it leased Diego Garcia from Mauritius for 99 years.
Under this agreement, the lease can be extended for an additional 40 years, meaning the island will effectively remain under British political and military control.
Trump now says that London fundamentally made a mistake and should not have relinquished sovereignty over these strategically located islands, positioned between Australia, Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, and Africa.
Today’s statement by Trump recalls his earlier position on Greenland, where he argued that — in order to counter the geopolitical threat posed by China and Russia in Arctic shipping routes — the United States would be a more suitable guardian of that strategic chokepoint than Denmark.
Here too, Trump argues that — in order to counter the threat posed by the Iranian regime to Britain — handing over these islands to Mauritius under any pretext is an unwise move.
At a time when the likelihood of an attack on Iran is higher than ever and observers say the “zero hour” of war is approaching, Trump’s geopolitical bargaining with Starmer is far from meaningless.It is clear that Iran’s longest-range missiles are neither capable of reaching Diego Garcia nor mainland Britain at the northwestern tip of Europe.
However, what Trump is most likely demanding from his Western allies is a major reward in exchange for attacking Iran.
Iran-Europe relations are at their worst possible state, and European governments — openly and covertly — would welcome an attack on Iran.Trump’s deal-making and merchant-like nature means he calculates profit and loss on everything.
He may be thinking of stepping in where the British government grew tired of decades of legal battles with Mauritius, took back the islands, and added them to America’s maritime domain. Here, Iran is merely the pretext; the real target is China.
It is quite possible that a hard confrontation with Iran is itself part of a broader strategy to put China in a tight spot.
Salahuddin Khadiv
