On Saturday morning, Iran launched two ballistic missiles against Diego Garcíalocated in the British Chagos Archipelago, about 4,000 kilometers from Iranian territory.
None of the missiles hit the target.: one would have failed in flight and the other was intercepted by an American warship, according to Reuters and The Wall Street Journal. It has not been reported how far exactly the projectiles reached.
Diego García’s location with respect to Iran.
However, the attack showed that Iranian missiles can reach targets beyond the 2,000 kilometer limit that the same regime claimed to have imposed on itself.
It is not clear what system Iran used in the attack. It could be a modified version of one of its longer-range missiles or a previously unknown capability.
On Friday, one day before the attack on Diego Garciathe United Kingdom confirmed in a statement that The United States was using British bases to carry out “defensive operations” intended to “neutralize” the attacks against ships perpetrated by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the British newspaper “The Times”, the bases referred to in the statement would be those of the Royal Air Force (RAF) in FairfordEdit (England) and that of the island of Diego Garcia.
In response, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, warned the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmerwhich puts “British lives in danger” by letting the United States use its bases.
“Iran will exercise its right to self-defense”Araqchi said on Friday; The next day was the attack on Diego García.
He Institute for the Study of War (ISW) He said the attack challenges some assumptions about the Iranian missile program, and reveals the threat it could pose to Europe.
“Iran launched a two-stage intercontinental ballistic missile, with a range of 4,000 kilometers, towards a US target on the island of Diego Garcia“, said the Chief of the Israeli General Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, on television.
“These missiles are not intended to hit Israel. Its reach reaches European capitals“Berlin, Paris and Rome are all under direct threat.” he added.
According to the AP agency, the United States has described the base of Diego Garcia as “a practically indispensable platform” for security operations in the Middle East, South Asia and East Africa.
In 2008, the United States recognized that island It had also been used for clandestine flights to extradite terrorism suspects.
Last year, The United States deployed several nuclear-capable B-2 Spirit strategic bombers to Diego Garcíaamid an intense campaign of airstrikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Iran expands its threat radius
This satellite image, released and taken on April 2, 2025 by Planet Labs PBC, shows six US B-2 bombers on the runway of the US military base on Diego Garcia Island. (AFP).
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The analyst on defense and intelligence issues Andrés Gómez de la Torre said to The Commerce that the importance of Diego Garcia comes from the Cold War, for its ability to serve as naval air platform to the Middle East, South Asia and East Africa.
He recalled that this facility has been used in conflicts such as Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistanand which in recent times has housed B-2 Spirit bombers and has supported operations against the Houthis in Yemen.
In this context, he stated that the Iranian attack introduces a relevant novelty, because until now The range of the Iranian missiles was considered to move between 2,000 and 2,500 kilometerswithin the medium range category, without conclusive evidence of a capacity intercontinental.
However, he stressed that the distance between Iran and Diego García is around 4,000 kilometersso the launch of missiles towards that base reveals at least a capacity not known or confirmed until now.
A photo from May 25, 2023 shows testing of the fourth-generation Khorramshahr ballistic missile, called Khaibar, at an undisclosed location in Iran. (Photo by the Iranian Ministry of Defense / AFP).
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As he explained, one of the hypotheses is that Tehran would have refocused technology of its space program towards military purposes to have a projectile that approaches the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), possibly around missiles Khorramshahralso known as Kheibarwhich, even without having hit the target, transmits a clear deterrent message: “that Iran could be moving towards a range that significantly expands its range of action and place Western Europe within the potential range of their ballistic systems. “You have to read it in those terms.”
What you need to know about Diego García
This United States Air Force image, obtained on October 26, 2001, shows a B-1B Lancer bomber at Diego Garcia taking off for a combat mission in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. (AFP).
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Diego Garcia it’s a coral atoll of the Chagos Archipelagolocated in the center of the indian oceansouth of India and Sri Lanka and relatively close to the Maldives.
It is the largest island of the group and has been described as a point almost equidistant between East Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, which explains much of its strategic value for the United States.
For decades Diego García was part of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT, for its acronym in English), administered by the United Kingdom.
But that status entered a new phase: the UK-Mauritius agreement signed on 22 May 2025 establishes that Mauritius is sovereign over the entire Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcíaalthough at the same time it authorizes the United Kingdom to exercise rights and authority over Diego García to ensure the continuity of the military base, through a lease for 99 years.
The US military presence there occurred in stages. Historical documents from the United States government indicate that the idea of establishing a naval facility at Diego García was proposed in 1966 and approved in principle in 1968.
Then, the operational deployment took shape in the early 70s, and an official reference from the US Navy indicates that the Diego García Naval Communication Station was commissioned on March 20, 1973a key date for the formal start of the permanent US military presence on the island.
Today, Diego García functions as a joint US-UK basewith a central role in the military projection, logistics and support towards the Middle East, the Indian Ocean, the Indo-Pacific and parts of Africa.
British official sources describe it as a “vital” platform for the security and operations of both countries, while the US Navy emphasizes its role in supporting forces deployed in the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf.
The military base used by the United States has 3,600 meter landing strips capable of receiving B-52, B-1 and B-2 and cargo planes like the C-17 Globemaster.
Furthermore, it has a port for up to 30 warships and serves as a center for satellite communications, space monitoring and supply storage for rapid deployments.
