Iran launched two intermediate-range ballistic missiles aimed at a joint US-UK military base 2,500 miles away in the Indian Ocean, but failed to hit its target, according to a new report.
One of the missiles that was directed at the Diego Garcia base failed while in the air as a US warship fired an SM-3 Interceptor at the second missile, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
It was not known if the interceptor had successfully destroyed the missile, but the base was not hit by an enemy strike, according to the outlet.
The Journal did not specify when the missiles were fired.
Iran’s attempt to reach Diego Garcia has worried experts who believe the rogue nation’s long-range missile capabilities have increased despite a reported self-ban on missiles that can go further than 1,200 miles.
Iran Watch, part of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, found that some Iranian missiles can reach up to 2,500 miles, roughly the distance to Diego Garcia.
Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago, is an atoll and part of the British Indian Ocean Territory.
The base houses American bombers, nuclear submarines and guided-missile destroyers.
The US recently transported military personnel and bombers, including the B-1 Lancer, to both Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, England.
The B-1 Lancer can carry 24 missiles and reach speeds up to 900 mph.
Earlier on Friday, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer gave the US military permission to launch strikes at Iran from both the Diego Garcia facility and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, England, the Times reported.
Starmer, who previously denied the US access to the bases, said that permitting the launch sites was for the “collective self-defense” to protect the Strait of Hormuz.
The about-face angered the already weakened Iranian regime, which claimed it would target the UK if it joined the war, started when the US and Israel launched joint operations targeting Iran’s regime and military infrastructure.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Starmer was “putting British lives in danger by allowing UK bases to be used for aggression against Iran.”
“Iran will exercise its right to self-defense,” Araquchi said in an X post
Days before launching Operation Epic Fury alongside Israel, Trump claimed that Iran is working on missiles that could reach America.
“This is some terrible people,” Trump said of the Tehran regime during his State of the Union Address. “They’ve already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America.”
With Post wires
