Iran fired two missiles at Diego Garcia base; neither reached its target

Iran fired two ballistic missiles toward the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia on Saturday, a dramatic escalation that prompted Britain's foreign secretary to denounce what she called "reckless Iranian threats" while insisting London would not be drawn into offensive action.

Neither missile reached the remote island base in the Chagos Archipelago, roughly 2,350 miles from Iran. One failed in flight; the other was intercepted by a US warship, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing multiple officials. Iranian state news agency Mehr also confirmed the weapons did not hit their target. The US military declined to comment.

The launches came hours after the UK government agreed to allow the United States to use British bases to conduct strikes on Iranian sites threatening the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial shipping channel through which around a fifth of the world's oil passes. That decision represented a significant widening of previous authorizations, which had limited US use of British bases to strikes on Iranian targets threatening British interests specifically.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper drew a firm line in her response. "As the prime minister has made clear we will provide defensive support against these reckless Iranian threats but we have not been, and we continue not to be, involved in offensive action," she said. She added that supporting UK interests included taking defensive action against ballistic missile threats.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had warned the escalation was coming. Hours before the launches, he posted on X: "Vast majority of the British People do not want any part in the Israel-US war of choice on Iran. Ignoring his own People, Mr Starmer is putting British lives in danger by allowing UK bases to be used for aggression against Iran. Iran will exercise its right to self-defence."

Prime Minister Keir Starmer separately phoned the Cypriot president to confirm that RAF Akrotiri would not be made available to the US for strikes on Iranian missile sites, a carve-out intended to limit Britain's exposure. That assurance followed an earlier incident this month in which Tehran launched unmanned drones at a military base in Cyprus, with one striking a runway and causing minimal damage.

Diego Garcia, home to an airbase capable of accommodating long-range US bombers, sits at the center of an unresolved political dispute: Britain has agreed to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and lease the base back, a deal that has drawn sustained domestic criticism.

Defence sources told ITV the regional situation was so dangerous that not many nations would be willing to put warships "in the middle of that threat right now." The BBC noted separately that there are genuine doubts about whether Iran possesses missiles with the range to consistently reach Diego Garcia, raising questions about the technical credibility of the strike attempt.

The Conservative opposition accused Starmer of making "the mother of all U-turns" over the base authorization. President Donald Trump, according to ITV, said he was "surprised" by what he characterized as the UK's "late response" in permitting American forces to operate from British territory.

The wider regional toll continues to mount. More than 3,100 people have been killed in Iran, according to the Human Rights Activist News Agency, while Lebanon's Ministry of Health reports more than 1,000 dead in that country. The Israeli military said Saturday it was striking additional targets in both Tehran and Beirut.