Iran late last week tried to fire a long-range missile at the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, which houses a joint U.S.-U.K. military base, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Sunday.
“The Iranian terrorist regime launched a long-range missile for the first time since the start of ‘Operation Roaring Lion’ that could reach a distance of ~4,000 km,” or some 2,500 miles, the military stated.
“We have been saying it: The Iranian terrorist regime poses a global threat. Now, with missiles that can reach London, Paris or Berlin,” the statement continued.
The military noted that since Feb. 28, Tehran has carried out missile and drone attacks targeting 12 regional countries “and is developing a capability that poses a much broader threat.”
❗️The Iranian terrorist regime launched a long-range missile for the first time since the start of Operation Roaring Lion that could reach a distance of ~4,000 km.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 21, 2026
During Operation Rising Lion in June 2025, the IDF revealed that the Iranian regime has intentions to develop… pic.twitter.com/iliERIu2hV
The Islamic Republic targeted Diego Garcia, but the strike was unsuccessful, Britain’s defense ministry said on Saturday without providing details.
“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,” a spokesperson for the ministry said in an emailed statement to Politico.
The Wall Street Journal and CNN had cited unnamed U.S. officials as saying that one of the missiles failed in flight, while the other was intercepted by an American warship.
U.S. President Donald Trump, in his State of the Union address on Feb. 24, said that Iran has “already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America.”
In March 2025, Iran threatened to retaliate against the joint U.S.-U.K. naval base on Diego Garcia if the United States attacked the Islamic Republic.
“Iran possesses adequate weapons for such an attack from its mainland, such as newer versions of the Khorramshahr missile that have an intermediate range, and the Shahed-136B kamikaze drone with a range of 4,000 kilometers,” Iranian state media warned at the time.
