AFTER a joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia island in the Indian Ocean was targeted by two long-range missiles, there are conflicting claims about who fired the projectiles, which reportedly had a range of 4000km and were successfully intercepted.
Reports indicate that one missile failed mid-flight, while the other was intercepted by a US warship before reaching the island. According to an Al Jazeera report, the incident happened just hours before UK ministers were to assemble in London to discuss the Iran war. At the meeting, the UK agreed to let the US use its military bases for collective self-defence, it reported.
The UK condemned what it described as “reckless” Iranian actions after missiles, while Iran denied carrying out the attack.
However, a senior Iranian official told Al Jazeera that Tehran was not responsible for the alleged missile launch.
Earlier this month, Iran’s foreign minister said that Tehran kept its missile range under 2000km because it did not want the world to perceive them as a threat. It may be noted that during the course of the war, there were multiple attacks, for instance, those targeting Turkiye, which were pinned on Iran, but Tehran denied the responsibility.
Israel’s military chief, Eyal Zamir, claimed that Iran used “a two-stage intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 4,000km” to target the US-UK base in Diego Garcia. He claimed Iran was a “direct threat” to Europe.
“Our approach to this conflict has been the same throughout. We were not and continue not to be involved in offensive action, and we’ve taken a different view from the US and Israel on this,” said UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper while condemning the strikes.
An analyst quoted by Al Jazeera said the missile attack signalled that any “continuation of the war will come with increasingly high risk”.
The UK-US military airbase is home to nearly 2,500 mostly American personnel and has supported US military operations from Vietnam to Iraq, Afghanistan and strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2026