Illustrative image. (Iranian Ministry of Defense)
Iran launched two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia but did not hit the British-American military base in the Indian Ocean island, the Wall Street Journal reported on March 21, citing multiple United States officials.
One of the missiles failed midflight, while a U.S. warship launched an SM-3 interceptor at the other, although it could not be determined if the interception succeeded, the newspaper said, without specifying when the missile attack exactly took place.
The Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, leased to the U.S. by the United Kingdom, serves as a base for long-range bombers and other strategic assets.
The missile attack came after the UK gave the U.S. permission to strike Iranian missile sites targeting the strait of Hormuz from British bases including Diego Garcia on March 20. Previously, UK bases were only being used to strike Iranian sites targeting British allies and interests in Gulf states.
U.S. President Donald Trump said that the UK “should have acted a lot faster” in giving his country the permission. He earlier slammed NATO allies, calling them “cowards” for refusing to offer warships to reopen the strait.
Responding, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the Islamic Republic would “exercise its right to self-defense”.
“Vast majority of the British People do not want any part in the Israel-US war of choice on Iran,” the minister wrote on X. “Ignoring his own People, Mr Starmer is putting British lives in danger by allowing UK bases to be used for aggression against Iran. Iran will exercise its right to self-defence.”
The latest missile attack was significant for what it revealed about Iran’s missile capabilities. Diego Garcia lies roughly 4,000 kilometers from the Islamic Republic, double the 2,000-kilometer limit Iran has for long stated that it would set the range of its missile to.
It is possible that Iran used a modified version of its heaviest missile, the Khorramshahr-4, to target Diego Garcia. With a stated range of 2,000 kilometers, the missile is classified as a medium-range ballistic missile. However, by decreasing the weight of the warhead from 1,500 kg, the Islamic Republic may have been able to double the range of the missile.
It’s worth noting that Iran also has suicide drones capable of reaching Diego Garcia, namely a a completely redesigned version of its Shahded-136, dubbed the Shahed-136B, with a range over 4,000 kilometers and a 90 kg warhead.
These capabilities not just put Diego Garcia within the Iranian ring of fire, but also the UK mainland, and most of the European Union, where critical U.S. bases are located.
While NATO has so far shown reluctance in joining in the American-Israeli war on Iran, this could eventually happen. The Islamic Republic clearly has the means to strike back.
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hit it until it’s gone. completely gone.
agree. wipe it from the surface.
this isn’t like the old days when colonial warmongers could just walk into a country and take it over. this is old thinking and won’t work against a country with a decent modern army. the usadmin and its nato poodles preach at home and warmonger abroad. all the while getting their people further into debt and poverty and running their economies into the ground. those who own shares in the mic don’t want peace because it’s bad for their wallets.
when the us gun becomes empty from shooting at russia and iran then china will walk in say lets play
china will ignore the problem until the uyghurs start killing all over china. then they will empty syria with the virus and the mistake made by putler and the ass will be undone. otherwise, all births of alawites and kurds will also be annulled, but this does not represent any harm to me. these people don’t deserve to live anyway because of their traitorous nature. so it doesn’t matter if china kills everything alive in syria with atomic bombs and a virus because of a few uyghur militarcamps.
the united states marines are coming to iran soon…heheheh
then they will die there.
bay of pigs mk 2, and probably with the same result.
try the range and hit zelensky…
if the iranians were smart, they would slaughter the main traitors putler and the ass in the middle of moscow.
stop sniffing glue asshole.
it was just a token attack to see if it could be reached, like a boxer doing an experimental jab at his opponents face. but it had the desired psychological effect as base personnel now know they are within range. the khorramshahr-5 will be able to do it with a heavier warhead or cluster munition.
in public, the crusaders sewed crosses on their armor. in private, the crusaders spat on the cross and kissed ass. the similarity with maga is not just coincidental. it’s just a shame that nato isn’t as smart as the pope of the day. and they don’t know what to do with maga. the pope and the inquisition knew exactly what to do with the crypto-jews. if the russians had done something similar to a jew born to a jewish woman named shelomov, they wouldn’t have died for a few square miles of u
you most certainly touch the chizophrenic christianity in a sensitive place 😂 maga, make america genocidial again, are nothing but a fascistic movement, racist, shooting women in the face, and such. many imprisoned by “ice” have get killed. the pope, and the inquisition was the crypto-jews. the whole christianity, are nothing else but crypto-jews. crypto-cannibals, pretending to be good 😂 is that not obvious ?