2026年8月16日 美国东部时间晚8:38 / 福克斯新闻
为自称查戈斯流亡政府担任总检察长的律师表示，伊朗战争证明了迪戈加西亚岛的战略价值
作者：艾玛·巴西
伊朗向美英军事基地发射导弹
特朗普总统威胁将派遣移民海关执法局人员前往美国机场，引发关于国土安全部预算和机场安全的争论。此事发生之际，伊朗向印度洋上的美英联合军事基地发射了中程弹道导弹，展示了其重要的军事能力。专家们讨论了纳坦兹核设施、导弹生产以及北约盟友参与保障霍尔木兹海峡安全的必要性。
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自称查戈斯流亡政府的一名官员周日表示，与伊朗的战争凸显了迪戈加西亚岛对美军以及中东地区稳定的战略重要性。在伊朗袭击了巴林境内的一处美军大型设施后，五角大楼已将后勤保障转移至这座位于印度洋的偏远英美基地。
这座位于查戈斯群岛南部的基地据称曾为包括“亚伯拉罕·林肯”号航空母舰战斗群提供支援，该舰的部队开展了空中行动并协助实施对伊朗港口的封锁。
据《纽约时报》报道，美军的战时后勤网络如今延伸至一条约2200英里的海上补给航线通往迪戈加西亚岛，使部队得以避开易受伊朗袭击的沿海设施，但这需要更长的往返航程和更慢的补给速度。
“这确实不便，但也凸显了这座基地的重要性，”担任查戈斯流亡政府总检察长的国际律师詹姆斯·滕布里奇告诉福克斯新闻数字频道。
英国国防短板凸显，英国在特朗普批评声中避免参与伊朗攻势
迪戈加西亚是一座战略印度洋基地，驻扎有2500名美军人员。（路透社）
“这座基地对英国、美国及其盟友的地区安全不可或缺。最新的局势进一步强调了这一点。”
“巴林是容易得多的攻击目标，因此美国调整补给安排是合理的，”滕布里奇补充道，“希望新任英国首相不会拒绝美国的这一用途变更。”
“这显示了这座基地的重要性，而向第三国寻求许可并非美国所愿，因此我希望这意味着特朗普仍会反对主权移交，”滕布里奇继续说道，他指的是一项拟议中将查戈斯群岛主权移交毛里求斯的协议。
2025年，英国与毛里求斯签署了一项条约，承认毛里求斯对查戈斯群岛的主权，同时允许英国保留对迪戈加西亚岛的控制权，初始期限为99年。
英国政府后来暂停了该协议的执行，原因是美国再次对主权移交表示担忧。
斯塔默陷入“颠覆性”危机，英国国防大臣在高风险特朗普北约峰会前夕辞职
英国工党领袖基尔·斯塔默2023年11月15日在伦敦下议院出席首相质询时发表讲话。（英国议会/玛丽亚·昂格尔/供图）
今年6月有报道称，美国官员起草了一项绕过英国的提案，以期达成协议接管迪戈加西亚岛，这是时任首相基尔·斯塔默将主权移交毛里求斯计划的数个替代方案之一。
自称查戈斯流亡政府的首席部长当月回应称，查戈斯群岛既不出售也“不被窃取”，但他表示“不能责怪”特朗普“寻求保障这座军事基地”。
“特朗普无法购买这些岛屿。一些人提出的这种说法对我们所有人都无益。只有英国才能出售这些岛屿，因为只有英国拥有它们的主权，”滕布里奇周日也说道。
“主权争议无法通过出售解决，而且除非英国先将群岛拱手让人，否则毛里求斯也无权出售它们，”他补充道。
“出售群岛不符合英国的利益。我们的选择是保留群岛并继续支持美军基地，还是将其移交毛里求斯——我的意愿是前者。”
毛里求斯长期以来一直声称对该群岛拥有主权，这一立场得到了国际法院2019年的咨询意见以及联合国后续行动的支持。
不过，英国政府在最初拒绝批准进攻性打击后，于3月允许美国使用迪戈加西亚岛开展有限的防御行动，以打击伊朗的导弹能力。
海湾国家强烈谴责伊朗对巴林的无人机袭击，紧张局势升级威胁谅解备忘录
2001年10月，隶属于密苏里州怀特曼空军基地第509轰炸机联队的美国B-2“幽灵”轰炸机在完成阿富汗空袭任务后，在迪戈加西亚岛的美军基地加油。（美国国防部/高级空军士兵丽贝卡·M·卢金）
“美国最初就想使用查戈斯的迪戈加西亚岛开展空袭。英国与毛里求斯协商后拒绝了——因此特朗普终于明白主权移交为何是个问题，”滕布里奇说。
“塞浦路斯遇袭后，英国允许了某些所谓的防御性使用，而伊朗确实向迪戈加西亚岛发射了导弹，但都脱靶了。”
路透社3月20日报道称，伊朗向迪戈加西亚岛发射了两枚弹道导弹。
一枚导弹在飞行中失效，另一枚则被美军军舰发射的拦截弹拦截，但起初并不清楚拦截是否成功。英国官员后来表示，一枚导弹未能命中目标，另一枚被成功拦截。
“没有收到严重的安全担忧——上次袭击暴露了伊朗在射程和瞄准能力上的不足，”滕布里奇说。
“英国政府和该领土专员已经试图宣称上次袭击使群岛变得不安全，但没人会当真相信伊朗会试图攻击目前仅有六名居民的偏远外岛。”
五角大楼紧急采购10倍数量的导弹，伊朗战争耗尽弹药库，威胁应对中国挑衅的战备状态
迪戈加西亚是查戈斯群岛中最大的岛屿，也是印度洋中部一座大型美军基地的所在地，该基地于1966年从英国租赁而来。（路透社）
外界报道的美军后勤紧张以及对迪戈加西亚岛的 renewed focus（重新关注）之际，“亚伯拉罕·林肯”号航母即将完成在该地区长达九个月的持续部署。
8月14日，特朗普在安德鲁斯联合基地发表讲话时表示，一艘新航母正前往中东接替它的任务。
“那艘船正在移动，”当记者问及航母情况时特朗普说道。
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与此同时，美国中央司令部司令布拉德·库珀海军上将也登上了该航母与官兵会面。由于家属对延长部署提出担忧，该航母预计将被换防。
福克斯新闻数字频道已联系五角大楼寻求置评。
艾玛·巴西是福克斯新闻数字频道的突发新闻撰稿人。加入福克斯之前，她曾在《每日电讯报》美国夜班团队工作，负责过外交、政治、新闻、体育和文化等多个版面。
Iran war thrusts Diego Garcia into spotlight as official calls US military base ‘integral’
August 16, 2026 8:38pm EDT / Fox News
Lawyer serving as AG for the self-described Chagossian government-in-exile says the Iran war proves Diego Garcia’s strategic value
By Emma Bussey
Iran fires missiles toward US-UK military base
President Trump threatens to deploy ICE agents to US airports, sparking debate over DHS funding and airport security. This comes as Iran targets a joint US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean with intermediate-range ballistic missiles, demonstrating a significant military capability. Experts discuss the Natanz nuclear facility, missile production, and the need for NATO allies to engage in securing the Strait of Hormuz.
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An official with the self-described Chagossian government-in-exile said Sunday that the war with Iran has underscored Diego Garcia’s strategic importance to U.S. forces and Middle East regional stability, with the Pentagon shifting logistics to the remote U.K.-U.S. base in the Indian Ocean after an Iranian strike on a major American installation in Bahrain.
The base, in the southern Chagos Archipelago, has reportedly supported carrier strike groups including the USS Abraham Lincoln, whose forces have conducted air operations and helped enforce the blockade of Iranian ports.
The U.S. military’s wartime logistics network now stretches across a roughly 2,200-mile maritime supply route to Diego Garcia, allowing forces to avoid coastal facilities vulnerable to Iranian attacks but requiring longer shuttle runs and slower replenishment, according to The New York Times.
“That is an inconvenience, but it shows the importance of the base,” James Tumbridge, an international lawyer who serves as attorney general for the Chagossian government-in-exile, told Fox News Digital.
UK DEFENSE SHORTFALLS HIGHLIGHTED AS BRITAIN AVOIDS IRAN OFFENSIVE ROLE AMID TRUMP CRITICISM
Diego Garcia is a strategic Indian Ocean base hosting 2,500 US military personnel.(Reuters)
“The base is integral to regional security for the U.K., U.S. and our allies. This latest news emphasizes it.”
“Bahrain is a far easier target, so the U.S. change of supply arrangement makes sense,” Tumbridge said, adding, “Hopefully the new British PM will not deny the U.S. this change of use.”
“It shows the importance of the base and asking a third country for permission is not what the U.S. will want, and so I hope this means Trump will still oppose the handover,” Tumbridge went on to say, referring to a proposed agreement that would transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
In 2025, the U.K. and Mauritius signed a treaty that would recognize Mauritian sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago while allowing the U.K. to retain control of Diego Garcia for an initial 99-year period.
The British government later put implementation of the agreement on hold amid renewed U.S. concerns over the sovereignty transfer.
STARMER IN ‘SEISMIC’ CRISIS, UK DEFENSE CHIEF QUITS BEFORE HIGH-STAKES TRUMP NATO SUMMIT
Keir Starmer, leader of Britain’s Labour Party, speaks during the Prime Minister’s Questions, at the House of Commons in London, Britain November 15, 2023.(UK Parliament/Maria Unger/Handout)
Reports emerged in June that U.S. officials had drafted a proposal to bypass Britain and strike a deal to take control of Diego Garcia, one of several alternatives to then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s plan to transfer sovereignty to Mauritius.
The first minister of the self-described Chagossian government-in-exile responded that month and said the Chagos Islands were not for sale or “for stealing either,” but argued that he “can’t blame” Trump for “looking to secure the military base.”
“Trump cannot buy the islands. That suggestion made by some is unhelpful to us all. Only the U.K. can sell the islands, as only the U.K. owns them,” Tumbridge also said on Sunday.
“The arguments over sovereignty do not get fixed via a sale, and Mauritius cannot sell them unless the U.K. first gives them away,” he added.
“It is not in the U.K.’s interest to sell them. Whether we keep them and continue our support for the U.S. base or we cede them to Mauritius is the choice — my desire is the former.”
Mauritius has long claimed sovereignty over the archipelago, a position backed by a 2019 advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice and subsequent U.N. action.
The U.K. government, however, permitted the U.S. to use Diego Garcia for limited defensive operations targeting Iranian missile capabilities in March after initially withholding approval for offensive strikes.
GULF COUNTRIES STRONGLY CONDEMN IRAN’S DRONE ATTACK ON BAHRAIN AS RISING TENSIONS THREATEN MOU
A U.S. B-2 Spirit bomber, part of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, stops for refueling at the U.S. military base on Diego Garcia in October 2001, following an airstrike mission over Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.(U.S. Department of Defense/Senior Airman Rebeca M. Luquin)
“The U.S. wanted to use Chagos Diego Garcia for air strikes at the very beginning. The U.K. consulted Mauritius and refused — hence Trump finally appreciating why sovereignty transfer was a problem,” Tumbridge said.
“After the attacks on Cyprus, the U.K. allowed certain so-called defense uses, and Iran did fire at Diego Garcia, but they missed.”
On March 20, Reuters reported that Iran had fired two ballistic missiles toward Diego Garcia.
One missile failed in flight, while a U.S. warship fired an interceptor at the other, though it was initially unclear whether the interception succeeded. British officials later said one missile fell short and the other was intercepted.
“No serious concerns have been shared — the earlier attempt showed a lack of range and targeting ability,” Tumbridge said.
“The British Government and the Commissioner for the Territory have already tried to say the last attack makes the islands unsafe. No one seriously believes that Iran would try to target the outer islands that presently only have a population of six people.”
PENTAGON RACES TO BUY 10X MORE MISSILES AS IRAN WAR DWINDLES ARSENAL, THREATENS READINESS FOR CHINA AGGRESSION
Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos archipelago and site of a major United States military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean, leased from the UK in 1966.(Reuters)
The reported U.S. logistical strains and renewed focus on Diego Garcia came as the USS Abraham Lincoln approached nine months of continuous deployment in the region.
Speaking at Joint Base Andrews on Aug. 14, Trump said a new aircraft carrier was heading to the Middle East to replace it.
“That ship is moving,” Trump said when reporters asked about the carrier.
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Meanwhile, Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, also met with service members aboard the carrier, which is expected to be relieved amid concerns raised by families over the extended deployment.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.
Emma Bussey is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Before joining Fox, she worked at The Telegraph with the U.S. overnight team, across desks including foreign, politics, news, sport and culture.