IDF says Iran’s missiles exceeded range limits Tehran claimed it lacked

The Islamic Republic of Iran significantly stepped up its war efforts against the United States on Friday by launching two medium-range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia, a key US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean.

Targeting Diego Garcia, located about 2,500 miles from Iran, means Tehran’s missile capabilities have exceeded previously accepted limits.

In the run-up to the February 28 Epic Operation Rage, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, “We deliberately kept the range of our missiles below 2,000 kilometers, so we do not have such a capability. We do not want to do this because we have no hostility towards the US people and all Europeans.”

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On Saturday, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said, “Just yesterday, Iran launched a two-stage intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 4,000 kilometers.” [2,500 miles] towards an American target on the island of Diego Garcia. The purpose of these missiles was not to hit Israel. Their range reaches as far as the capitals of Europe; Berlin, Paris and Rome are all within direct threat range.”

IDF spokesman Nadav Shoshani criticized Iran’s alleged deception about the

Jason Brodsky, The policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) told Fox News Digital: “The Trump administration was justified in its decision to take military action due to Iran’s continued refusal to negotiate on its missile program, citing the Iranian missile threat as justification for Operation Epic Fury.

“This also shows how dangerous it is to rely solely on Iranian nuclear weapons fatwas and the supreme leader’s public rhetoric when formulating U.S. policy. As long as Iran maintains its technical capabilities beyond public statements, this 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 Tehran’s Baharestan Square, on the edge of an exhibition marking the 44th anniversary of the start of the Iran-Iraq war on September 26, 2024. (Hossein Beris /Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

“I think this is a message that the Revolutionary Guards are on duty in Iran after the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei,” Brodsky said. “While he was alive, Khamenei limited the range of Iran’s missile program to 2,000 kilometers. In 2018, Khamenei described how he rejected offers from Revolutionary Guard commanders to increase the range to 5,000 kilometers.

“But now that he is dead, voices within the IRGC seeking to increase reach are likely driving the agenda. The launch of the missiles was likely meant to signal the IRGC’s capacity to threaten U.S. allies beyond the Middle East. For example, it threatens Europe.”

Two long-range Iranian missiles did not hit the base, but the attempted strike marked a significant expansion of Iran’s reach beyond the Middle East and into a key US strategic hub. Officials reported that one of the missiles failed during flight, while a US warship launched an SM-3 interceptor at the other. It was not immediately clear whether the intervention was successful. The remote base is a critical launch point for U.S. bombers, nuclear submarines and other strategic assets.

“The launch underscores the president’s view that Iran is an imminent threat. It’s easy for casual observers to ignore, but the increasing maturity of Iran’s strategic programs, plural, exponentially expands the threat the Islamic Republic poses beyond the Middle East,” Ilan Berman, vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital.

“That’s what Epic Fury is trying to address. In my view, management believes, absolutely rightly, that such capabilities cannot be left in the hands of a radical, predatory regime.”

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Israeli air defense systems were activated to intercept Iranian missiles over Tel Aviv, Israel, amid a new barrage of Iranian rockets on June 16, 2025. (Menahem Kahanna/AFP via Getty Images)

“Despite public denials, it is clear that the Iranian regime has been trying to expand the range of its ballistic missile capabilities for years. The launch against Diego Garcia confirms that it is making real progress towards this goal and is already able to compromise targets at the same range as Central and Eastern Europe. Moreover, it is clear that the regime is seeking even greater capabilities, and if left intact, Iran’s ballistic missiles will soon reach intercontinental range.”

Berman, author of “Iran’s Deadly Ambition: The Islamic Republic’s Quest for Global Power,” added: “Iran’s parallel development of its space program is significant. The booster used to put payloads into orbit could be combined with an intermediate-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 efforts, 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, Missouri, stops to refuel at the U.S. military base in Diego Garcia in October 2001 following an air strike mission over Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Department of Defense/Senior Airman Rebeca M. Luquin)

He warned of Iran’s serious threat to continental Europe.

“Europe is definitely at risk, as the latest launch clearly shows,” Berman said. “But I cannot say that the failure to recognize this to date is due to any gross deception on the part of Tehran. It is more attributable to the willful blindness of European elites to the extent of the threat posed by the Iranian regime, as well as an over-reliance on diplomacy and arms control to contain it.”

On Saturday, the United Kingdom condemned the attack.

“Iran’s reckless attacks across the region and holding the Strait of Hormuz hostage are a threat to British interests and British allies,” the British Ministry of Defense said in a statement. he said. “RAF jets and other UK military assets continue to defend our people and personnel in the region.

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“This government has given the United States permission to use British bases for certain and limited defense operations.”

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman and Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.