Could Iranian missiles hit the UK after ‘worrying’ assault on Diego Garcia | EUROtoday

Iran firedtwo ballistic missiles on the UK-US Diego Garcia army base on the Chagos Islands, it emerged on Saturday – a goal some 2,600 miles away from its borders.

The assault was unsuccessful, with one missile reportedly shot down by a US warship, whereas the opposite failed in flight. It was understood to have taken place earlier than the UK authorities gave the US permission to make use of its bases to strike Strait of Hormuz targets on Friday,

On Saturday, the Ministry of Defence condemned the assault, calling it “a threat to British interests and British allies”.

Meanwhile, overseas secretary Yvette Cooper insisted the UK is not going to be concerned in offensive motion and has “taken a different view from the US and Israel”. She mentioned the federal government was supporting defensive motion in opposition to “reckless Iranian threats”.

Tory chief Kemi Badenoch warned the UK was being “dragged into” the Iran battle “whether we like it or not”.

She mentioned: “Today we’re hearing that they’ve been firing missiles on Diego Garcia. The sad thing is, whether we like it or not, we’re being dragged into it and what we need is a prime minister who can think ahead.”

Could an Iranian strike hit the UK?

As the UK is drawn additional into the battle, some in Britain are involved in regards to the potential for the fallout to succeed in the mainland.

This may be very unlikely, specialists have mentioned, with Iran’s offensive capabilities not assessed as long-reaching sufficient to hit Britain.

Diego Garcia is about 2,600 miles from Iran, whereas the space between Iran to the UK is round 3,000 miles – though it’s not clear precisely the place the missiles had been fired from.

But Sky News army analyst Sean Bell mentioned: “All of a sudden the UK is not far away either so that’s the huge significance. At least Diego Garcia is well protected, London is not. The UK has no effective ballistic missile defence system in place and therefore, this is a very worrying development for the UK.”

Intelligence from the US-based Foundation for Defence of Democracies had beforehand indicated that Iran’s furthest-reaching warhead is the Khorramshahr 4 missile. The missile can doubtlessly hit targets from 1,200 to 1,900 miles (1,931km to three,057km) away.

Dr Marion Messmer, director, International Security, Chatham House, beforehand mentioned: “From what we know about Iran’s missile capabilities, [an attack on the UK is] not possible. Other parts of Europe could be at risk, but the UK is out of range.”

Earlier this month, RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus was hit by an unmanned drone strike. UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer mentioned on Saturday the bottom is not going to be used for offensive army actions in Iran.