Could Iranian missiles hit the UK after ‘worrying’ attack on Diego Garcia
It was revealed on Saturday that Iran fired two ballistic missiles at the British-US Diego Garcia military base in the Chagos Islands; This target turned out to be approximately 4,600 miles from their borders.
The attack failed; It was reported that one of the missiles was shot down by a US warship and the other could not fly. It is understood the incident took place before the UK government gave the US permission to use its bases to strike Strait of Hormuz targets on Friday.
On Saturday, the Ministry of Defense condemned the attack, calling it “a threat to British interests and British allies”.
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper insisted the UK would not be involved in acts of aggression and said it “had a different perspective to the US and Israel”. He said he supported the government’s defensive action against “reckless Iranian threats”.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has warned that Britain is being “dragged into” the Iran conflict “whether we like it or not”.
“Today we hear that they fired missiles at Diego Garcia. The sad part is that we are being dragged into this whether we want it or not, and what we need is a prime minister who can think ahead.”
Could Iran’s attack hit the UK?
As the United Kingdom is drawn further into the conflict, some in Britain worry about the potential for fallout to reach the mainland.
Experts say this is unlikely because Iran’s offensive capabilities are not considered long-term enough to hit the UK.
Diego Garcia is about 2,600 miles from Iran, while the distance between Iran and England is about 3,000 miles; However, it is not clear exactly where the missiles were fired from.
But Sky News military analyst Sean Bell said: “Suddenly the UK is not too far away either, which is of huge importance. At least Diego Garcia is well protected, London is not. The UK does not have an effective ballistic missile defense system and so this is a very worrying development for the UK.”
Intelligence from the US-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies had previously stated that Iran’s farthest-reaching warhead was the Khorramshahr 4 missile. The missile can potentially hit targets 1,200 to 3,900 miles away.
Chatham House International Security Director Dr. Marion Messmer previously said: “Based on what we know about Iran’s missile capabilities, [an attack on the UK is] not possible. “Other parts of Europe may be at risk, but the UK is out of range.”
Earlier this month, RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus was hit by an unmanned drone strike. British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Saturday that the base would not be used for military strikes in Iran.
