The British government has not given permission for the US to use UK military bases to support potential US strikes on Iran, the BBC understands. The US has in the past used RAF Fairford, in Gloucestershire, and the UK overseas territory of Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean, to carry out strikes in the Middle East region. A UK government spokesperson said: "As routine, we do not comment on operational matters."
A fresh round of indirect talks in Geneva between Iran and the US on Tehran's nuclear programme, focusing on the terms for Iran constraining its nuclear programme under the supervision of the UN nuclear weapons inspectorate, has ended after just over four hours, according to Iranian state media. The talks were held against a backdrop of a now familiar slew of contradictory messages from Donald Trump, in which he said he believed Iran wanted a deal but also highlighted the US naval military buildup
He also suggests Trump's Republican base want a deal and not further unnecessary wars. Araghchi was writing a day after Netanyahu held talks with Trump in the US in which Israel's calls to consider fresh attacks on Iran were discussed alongside the Gaza peace plan. Netanyahu claims Iran may be seeking to rebuild its nuclear programme after joint Israeli-US assaults on Iran in June severely damaged its key nuclear sites.
