Iran has attempted a missile attack on the Diego Garcia naval base in the Indian Ocean, a joint facility used by the United States and the United Kingdom, according to reports.
The base is located roughly 4,000 kilometres from Iran. In the reported incident, one missile is said to have failed during its flight, while another was intercepted and shot down by US forces.
The Wall Street Journal reported the development, but did not specify when the attempted strike took place. Iran has not issued an official statement on the incident so far.
The episode has drawn attention to Iran’s missile reach and technology, coming amid heightened hostility between Iran and the US and Israel. US officials reportedly assessed that the missiles used could have been of the Khorramshahr-4 type, described as an intercontinental ballistic missile.
The incident is being viewed as an early demonstration of Iran’s ability to target distant locations, raising concerns that US assets in the Gulf region, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean—as well as several European cities—could fall within missile range.
