Iran fired two ballistic missiles at Britain’s Diego Garcia base in the Chagos Islands, Government sources have confirmed.
Neither of the two missiles hit their targets, with one believed to have been intercepted by a US warship and the other having failed in flight on Friday morning.
The attempted attack on the joint UK-US base was the first time Tehran used intermediate-range ballistic missiles, which fly farther. It marks a significant escalation of the conflict.
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, threatened Britain on Friday. He warned that Sir Keir Starmer was “putting British lives at risk” by allowing the US to use UK bases.
At the time, it was not public knowledge that Tehran had fired at Diego Garcia, which is 4,000 Km from Iran.
Downing Street confirmed last night it has allowed the US to carry out missions from British bases – including Diego Garcia – to degrade Iran’s capability to close the Strait of Hormuz.
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Diego Garcia and the Chagos Islands are part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. The archipelago is at the centre of a row between the Government and Donald Trump, who has criticised Sir Keir’s attempts to give away the islands to Mauritius, which is seeking deeper ties with Iran.
On Friday, Mr Trump said he was considering “winding down” the Iran war because the US was “very close” to meeting its military objectives.
He suggested opening the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for 20 per cent of the world’s oil, could be left to other countries that depend on it.
The US treasury department also relaxed sanctions on Tehran by permitting the delivery and sale of Iranian-origin crude oil for 30 days, in a sign Mr Trump is trying to ease the rise in global energy prices.
