How European Bases Quietly Fueled the US-Israeli War on Iran

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told the world on March 16 that "this is not Europe's war." By then, the US and Israel had already been bombing Iran for roughly two weeks, and European governments were, in fact, deeply embedded in the logistics making the campaign possible.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte disclosed in June that European countries had allowed between 4,000 and 5,000 American warplanes involved in the Iran operation to take off from US bases scattered across the continent. That figure, delivered almost in passing, undercuts months of European statements insisting the war was being waged at arm's length.

Britain's reversal

The clearest case is the United Kingdom. Then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer initially refused to let the US launch strikes on Iran from British-leased bases, triggering a public rift with Donald Trump. Starmer reversed course on March 1, authorizing American use of UK facilities for what he called a "specific and limited defensive purpose."

That decision opened the door for US bombers to operate out of Diego Garcia, the joint US-UK base in the Chagos Islands, and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, the only European base leased to the US Air Force with a runway built for heavy bombers. RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk serviced F-35s and refueling aircraft feeding the war effort.

Britain also repositioned its own warships, aircraft and air-defense systems across the Gulf, framing its strikes on Iranian drones as "collective self-defence" of allies like Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took office in July, has kept the policy in place.

Iran responded by declaring UK bases hosting US operations "legitimate targets," striking facilities with British troops in Iraq, Qatar and the UAE, and firing two missiles, unsuccessfully, at Diego Garcia in March. RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus was also hit by a drone that month; British officials say there is no evidence Iran was responsible, an assertion that remains unverified independently.

France's balancing act

Emmanuel Macron called the opening wave of strikes "outside of international law" on March 3 and said Paris "cannot approve" of them. Yet France permitted US military support aircraft to land at its Istres and Avord bases, with French generals saying they received "full guarantees" the planes were not directly involved in the bombing.

France's Camp de la Paix base in Abu Dhabi, home to more than 750 French personnel, was hit by an Iranian drone strike in March, pulling French jets into the skies over the UAE regardless of Macron's stated neutrality.

Tensions with Israel and Washington flared separately after both accused France of blocking munitions flights to Israel from crossing French airspace. Trump called France "very unhelpful" in a Truth Social post on March 31, and Israel announced a boycott of the French arms industry in response.

Macron also floated a European naval "support mission" to escort shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. It never materialized, and a separate French offer to help Iran clear mines from the strait was rejected by Tehran.

The gap between rhetoric and runways

Taken together, the record shows European governments performing public neutrality while their air bases, ports and personnel functioned as forward infrastructure for a US-Israeli air campaign. The distance European leaders claimed in press conferences does not match the operational picture NATO's own secretary general laid out in June.