The United Kingdom has approved the use of its military bases by the United States for its operations against Iran, while Sri Lanka bluntly refused American Jets to land and refuel on the island.
The British government on Friday (March 20, 2026) authorised the US to use its bases to carry out airstrikes on Iran’s missile sites that were hitting cargo traffic in the Hormuz Strait.
A Downing Street statement said the British minister had met and discussed Iran’s blockade of the Hormuz Strait and the US-Israel war on Iran.
“They confirmed that the agreement for the US to use UK bases in the collective self-defence of the region includes US defensive operations to degrade the missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz,” the statement said.
The Downing Street statement called for “urgent de-escalation and a swift resolution to the war”.
UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer had said this week that Britain would not be drawn into the Iran war, initially rejecting an American request to use the British bases for airstrikes on Iran. He said Britain needed to be satisfied that any military action was legal.
Later, Starmer modified the position after Iran hit British allies in West Asia, noting that the US could use the Royal Air Force Fairford and Diego Garcia, a joint US-UK base in the Indian Ocean.
US President Donald Trump had repeatedly targeted Starmer since the Iran conflict started, complaining that the UK was not doing enough to help the Americans in their war in West Asia.
Trump said on Monday (March 16) that there were “some countries that greatly disappointed me” before he singled out Britain, which he said had once been considered “the Rolls-Royce of allies”.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka refused permission for the US to land two of its combat jets at the island’s southeast Mattala International Airport in early March 2026.
Lankarn President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told Parliament here on Friday (March 20) that two US warplanes from Djibouti asked for permission to come to Sri Lanka on March 4 and 8. Both requests were rejected, he said.
“We want to maintain our neutrality despite many pressures. We won’t give in. The Middle East war poses challenges, but we will do everything possible to remain neutral,” he said.
The West Asian conflict that began with the US-Israeli targeting of Iran, killing its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28, has escalated over the last three weeks, expanding to the destruction of oil and gas plants in the region, apart from the blockade of energy traffic through the Hormuz Strait.