![[aggregator] downloaded image for imported item #54607](https://newsview.top/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/iran-missile-range-1024x576.jpg "Trump proven right on Iran's long-range missile capability as regime targets US-UK base, experts say")
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Iran fires missiles toward US-UK military base
S.-U.K.military base, while Netanyahu advisor Caroline Glick provides analysis on �’
TheIslamic Republic of Iransignificantly escalated its war effort against the U.S.with its launch of two intermediate-range ballistic missiles on Friday toward Diego Garcia, a key U.S.-U.K.military base in the Indian Ocean.
The targeting of Diego Garcia, roughly 2,500 miles from Iran, means Tehran’s missile capabilities appear to have exceeded previously acknowledged limits.
In the period leading up to Operation Epic Fury Feb.28, Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed, “We intentionally kept the range of our missiles below 2,000 kilometers so we don’t have that capability.And we don’t want to do that because we do not have hostility against the United States people and all Europeans.”
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Map from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies showing Iran’s missile ranges.(The Foundation for Defense of Democracies)
On Saturday, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt.Gen.Eyal Zamir said, “Just yesterday, Iran launched a two-stage intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 4,000 kilometers [2,500 miles] toward an American target on the island of Diego Garcia.These missiles were not intended to hit Israel.Their range reaches thecapitals of Europe— Berlin, Paris and Rome are all within direct threat range.”
IDF spokesman Nadav Shoshani blasted the alleged Iranian deception on X, writing, “Just 3 days before the war, the Iranian regime said they don’t obtain long-range missiles.Today, their lies were exposed once again, when missiles were fired 4000km away from Iran.They hoped to lie their way into becoming a force that can terrorize the world.We didn’t buy it.”
�The Trump administration, in citing Iran’s missile threat as a rationale for Operation Epic Fury, was therefore justified in its decision to undertake military action as Iran has consistently refused to negotiate over its missile program.
“It also shows how dangerous it is to solely rely on Iranian nuclear weapons fatwas and the supreme leader’s public rhetoric in formulating U.S.policy.As long as Iran retains the technical capability beyond public pronouncements, it is a threat.”
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A banner depicting Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is placed next to a ballistic missile in Baharestan Square in Tehran, Iran, Sept.26, 2024, on the sideline of an exhibition marking the 44th anniversary of the start of Iran-Iraq war. (Hossein Beris /Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
“I think it’s a message that the IRGC is in charge in Iran after Supreme LeaderAliKhamenei’sdeath,” Brodsky said.“When Khamenei was alive, he limited the range of Iran’s missile program to 2,000 kilometers.Khamenei recounted in 2018 how he had rejected overtures from IRGC commanders seeking to increase the range to as much as 5,000 kilometers.
“But now that he has died, those voices in the IRGC seeking to increase the range are likely driving the agenda.The launch of the missiles was likely meant as a signal of the IRGC’s capabilities to threaten U.S.allies beyond the Middle East.For example, this threatens Europe.”
The two long-range Iranian missiles did not hit the base, but the attempted attack marked a significant expansion of Iran’s reach beyond the Middle East and toward a majorU.S.strategic hub.One missile reportedly failed in flight, while a U.S.warship launched an SM-3 interceptor at the other, officials said.It was not immediately clear whether the interception was successful.The remote base is a critical launch point for U.S.bombers, nuclear submarines and other strategic assets.
Ilan Berman, vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D.C.�The launch hammers home the president’s point aboutIran being an imminent threat.It’s easy for casual observers to ignore, but the increasing maturity of Iran’s strategic programs, plural, has been exponentially expanding the threat that the Islamic Republic poses beyond the Middle East.
“That is what Epic Fury is seeking to address.The administration believes, absolutely correctly in my view, that these types of capabilities cannot be left in the hands of a radical, predatory regime.
HEZBOLLAH, IRAN UNLEASH COORDINATED CLUSTER BOMB STRIKES ON ISRAEL IN MAJOR ESCALATION
Israeli air defense systems are activated to intercept Iranian missiles over the Israeli city of Tel Aviv amid a fresh barrage of Iranian rockets June 16, 2025.(Menahem Kahanna/AFP via Getty Images)
“Despite its public denials, it’s been clear that the Iranian regime has been working on expanding the range of its ballistic missile capabilities for years.The launch toward Diego Garcia confirms that it has made real progress toward that goal and is already able to put targets in the same range as Central and Eastern Europe at risk.Moreover, it’s clear that the regime is seeking still greater capabilities and that, if left intact, Iran’s ballistic missiles would attain intercontinental range soon.”
Berman, the author of “Iran’s Deadly Ambition: The Islamic Republic’s Quest for Global Power,” added, “The parallel development Iran has been carrying out on itsspace programis significant.The booster used to put payloads into orbit can be married onto a medium-range missile to create intercontinental range capabilities.Before the war, we were seeing a clear convergence of the regime’s strategic programs: its ballistic missile work, its space capabilities and its nuclear program.”
A U.S.B-2 Spirit bomber, part of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, stops for refueling at the U.S.military base on Diego Garcia in October 2001 after an airstrike mission over Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.(U.S.Department of Defense/Senior Airman Rebeca M.Luquin)
He warned about the serious Iranian threat to continental Europe.
“Europe is absolutely at risk as the recent launch makes clear,” Berman said.“I wouldn’t say that a failure to recognize this to date has been due to a grand deception by Tehran, though.It is more attributable to willful blindness on the part of European elites about the extent of the threat that the Iranian regime poses as well as undue faith in diplomacy and arms control in containing it.”
On Saturday, theUnited Kingdomcondemned the attack.
“Iran’s reckless attacks, lashing out across the region and holding hostage the Strait of Hormuz, are a threat to British interests and British allies,” the U.K.Ministry of Defense said in a statement.“RAF jets and other U.K.military assets are continuing to defend our people and personnel in the region.
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“This government has given permission to the U.S.to use British bases for specific and limited defensive operations.”
�s Greg Norman and Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
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