You can never know where help for a repressive regime of terror will come from. But it always comes. Even when the assistance is not massive but merely symbolic, it emboldens the axis of evil. It signals weakness in the democratic camp. The tragedy is that it is the ostensibly enlightened politicians, along with their supporters and those who fear harming international law, who time and again cause far greater damage, not only to fundamental rights but also to human life.
This time it is Britain, once again Britain, which informed the United States that it opposes the use of its military bases in the region for a strike on Iran. The reference is mainly to Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago, which under a May 2025 agreement is set to pass largely to the sovereignty of Mauritius. The International Court of Justice ruled in 2019 that sovereignty over the entire archipelago should be transferred to Mauritius and that the military base on Diego Garcia should be dismantled and evacuated. For years Britain has not complied. But when it comes to saving the Iranian people from a murderous regime of terror, Britain suddenly expresses concern for international law.
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Satellite image of US military aircraft deployed at Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean
This is not the 1930s. Iran is not Germany. In Germany at the time there were no masses chanting “Death to Britain,” and barely, if at all, “Death to the Jews.” Nazism’s genocidal character was revealed later. Iran and its proxies, by contrast, openly espouse an ideology of genocidal racism. Hassan Nasrallah, until his assassination the most prominent protégé of the Iranian regime, once declared that Jews should be concentrated in one place so they could be eliminated more easily.
The Houthi flag bears the words: “Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse upon the Jews, Victory to Islam.” Hamas, backed by Iran, indoctrinates Palestinians, including children, to destroy Jews and conquer the entire world. Iran itself recently demonstrated its nature when it killed tens of thousands of its own citizens only weeks ago. It bankrolls the coalition of evil. It spreads destruction wherever it extends its reach. Alongside Qatar, it is a leading destabilizing force in the Middle East.
But Britain’s Labour government, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, neither hears nor sees nor understands. It seeks refuge in international law while refusing to comply with international legal rulings itself. This is not enlightenment. It is not respect for the law. It is weakness and appeasement gripping parts of the West like a disease that refuses to heal.
It is also striking that one of the Starmer government’s justifications for aiding Iran is the fear of Iranian retaliation against British bases in the region. According to the man in 10 Downing Street, the Iranians are apparently known for their gratitude, and in the Labour government’s imagined world the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will target only Zionists and Americans. That, it seems, is acceptable. No need for alarm.
The fact that the Labour government is displaying appeasement toward Iran does not absolve the United States in general, or President Trump in particular, of the same malady
The Labour government’s appeasement of Iran does not absolve the United States in general, or President Donald Trump in particular, of the same malady. The current administration deserves praise for confronting antisemitism that has grown to alarming proportions on college campuses. But Trump himself is the leading defender of the other head of the two-headed monster.
Iran is not alone in its destructive influence. It has a twin: Qatar, which stands behind nearly every anti-Israel campaign in the free world. “You need a public relations agency because you do so much good,” Trump told Qatar’s prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, this week. “They see you as evil. You’re not evil. You’re amazing.” Trump may be expressing gratitude for the private jet he received from Doha’s rulers and for Qatar’s massive investments in the American economy. But such softness toward a country that, according to a new official U.S. report, ranks first in donations to universities and in effect bankrolls hatred of Israel — which almost always also means hatred of America — is alarming. And of that country’s prime minister Trump says, “He’s not evil. He’s amazing”?
Yesterday, students in Iran renewed their struggle against the regime. They need assistance. It is a regional and global interest. But when it comes to appeasement — and not only Britain’s — the penny has yet to drop.