The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or the Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is a British overseas territory located in the Indian Ocean midway between Africa and Indonesia. The largest island is Diego Garcia (44 km x 44 km), which is home to joint Anglo-American military facilities. (Photo courtesy of Pictures From History/Universal Images Group, Getty Images)
Photos from History | Universal Images Group | Getty Images
Iran fired two missiles at the joint Anglo-American Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean, but they did not hit their target, British ministers announced on Sunday, confirming earlier reports about the number of projectiles.
“We believe that Iran did indeed target Diego Garcia. Our understanding is that one missile missed the target and failed. The other missile was intercepted and thwarted,” British Housing Secretary Steve Reid told BBC television.
Reid declined to say how far the missile fell.
“There is no concrete assessment that the Iranians are targeting the UK, and they could even do so if they wanted to,” Reid added.
The Israeli military announced Saturday that Iran targeted Diego Garcia with a two-stage intercontinental ballistic missile. This refers to a missile with at least two rocket engines, one capable of sending the missile into space and another propelling it towards targets with a range of up to 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles).
“These missiles are not intended to attack Israel. Their range extends to European capitals, with Berlin, Paris and Rome all within direct threat range,” said Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir.
Infographic with map showing the location of the British and American military bases in the Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia (Graphic by Lise KIENNEMANN and Valentina BRESCHI/AFP, Getty Images)
Lise Kienemann | AFP Infographic | Getty Images
The Wall Street Journal first reported the attack on Friday, citing multiple U.S. officials.
The reported attack marks Iran’s first operational use of an intermediate-range ballistic missile and represents a serious attempt to reach far beyond the Middle East and threaten U.S. interests, the Wall Street Journal said.
“Iran’s reckless attacks, which have raged across the region and taken the Strait of Hormuz hostage, are a threat to British interests and our allies,” the British Ministry of Defense said in a statement to CNBC on Saturday. “(Royal Air Force) jets and other British military assets continue to protect our people and personnel in the region.”
The Ministry of Defense said Iran’s failure to target the base occurred before Britain approved the use of the base for defensive operations by the US military the day before.
Britain has given the US permission to use Air Force Fairford in the UK and Diego Garcia base in the Chagos Islands for “specific and limited defense operations”, the Ministry of Defense said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office announced on Friday that ministers had approved the use of U.S. military bases in the UK for regional defense. This includes “U.S. defensive operations to degrade missile bases and capabilities used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz.”
Reuters reported Iran’s representative at the United Nations International Maritime Organization, Ali Mousavi, as saying on Sunday that the Strait of Hormuz remained open to all vessels except those associated with “enemies of Iran.”
Targeting Iranian power plants
As the war escalates in a dangerous new direction early in its fourth week, US President Donald Trump late Saturday threatened to “destroy” Iran’s power plants if it did not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.
“If Iran does not fully open the Strait of Hormuz without threat within 48 hours from this point, the United States will attack and destroy various power plants, starting with the largest and starting with the largest!” President Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The dramatic reversal came just one day after President Trump spoke of “winding down” the war.
In a post on Truth Social on Friday, the president claimed that the United States is “considering a reduction in large-scale military efforts in the Middle East and is very close to achieving that goal.”
President Trump also told reporters he has no interest in a ceasefire with Iran.
“We can have a dialogue, but we don’t want a ceasefire,” President Trump said on the South Lawn of the White House before leaving for Florida. “You know you don’t do a ceasefire when you’re literally annihilating the other side.”
“They don’t have the navy, they don’t have the air force, they don’t have the equipment,” Trump continued.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Berger Ghalibaf pledged on Sunday to target energy facilities in the region if his country’s power plants are damaged.
“Soon after our power plants and infrastructure are targeted, critical infrastructure, energy infrastructure and oil facilities across the region will be considered legitimate targets and irreversibly destroyed, and oil prices will remain high for a long time,” Ghalibaf said in a post on X.
Hours after President Trump’s remarks, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz retorted that Israeli attacks on Iran will “increase significantly” next week.
President Trump issued a stern warning as Iran and Israel exchanged attacks targeting nuclear facilities.
Iran attacks two communities near Israel’s main nuclear research site, injuring dozens of people. The Israeli military said its defenses were unable to intercept a missile that struck the southern cities of Dimona and Arad.
Initial footage from the scene in Arad showed a bus with its windows blown out and extensive damage to several buildings, with dozens of firefighters and police responding to two separate impact scenes. Israeli rescue teams said four people, including a 4-year-old girl, were seriously injured and 29 others had minor injuries. Authorities are still searching for several missing people.
It was the first time during the war that an Israeli nuclear research center was targeted.
Israel’s secret nuclear reactor is located about 13 kilometers southeast of Dimona. Both cities are located near several military bases, including Nevatim Air Base, the largest in the country.
US allows sea sales of Iranian crude oil
The war, which began with U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iranian targets on February 28, has effectively closed off the narrow and economically vital Strait of Hormuz that separates Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
About one-fifth of the world’s oil passes through the Strait. The number of daily calls to transit has dropped from a high of more than 120 recorded earlier this year to almost zero, according to data analyzed by Charles Schwab. Much of the oil from the Gulf usually goes to Asia.
Benchmark Brent crude oil futures for May contract rose 3.26% to $112.19 per barrel on Friday, its highest close since July 2022. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for April contract rose 2.27% to settle at $98.32 per barrel.
The Trump administration’s latest attempt to ease prices came late Friday, with a 30-day waiver of sanctions on offshore purchases of Iranian crude oil. The move is expected to add 140 billion barrels of oil to the global market, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent posted on X.
The G7 countries stand ready to take the necessary measures to support global energy supplies, the foreign ministers said in a statement. The two leaders also reaffirmed the importance of protecting maritime routes, including the Strait of Hormuz.
Ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US, as well as the EU’s top diplomats, said in a statement: “We…express our support for our regional partners in the face of unjustified attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies.”
— Reuters contributed to this report
