Iran missiles targeting Diego Garcia fell short, intercepted: UK minister

AFP | London

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UK minister Steve Reed on Sunday said one missile launched by Iran targeting a joint UK-US military base in the Indian Ocean “fell short” while another missile was “intercepted”.

“Our assessment is that the Iranians certainly targeted Diego Garcia,” a military base some 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles) away from Iran, Reed told the BBC.

“As we understand it, one missile fell short, failed, the other was intercepted and prevented,” said the housing minister, who was representing the government on the Sunday morning shows.

“But I don’t think it’s a surprise this has happened, Iran has been recklessly firing missiles around the region,” he added.

On Friday, the UK government said it would allow Washington to use its bases in Diego Garcia and Fairford in southwest England to target Iranian “missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz”.

A UK official source confirmed that Iran’s “unsuccessful targeting of Diego Garcia” took place before Friday’s announcement.

Reed insisted that the “UK will not be dragged into this conflict”, adding that there was “no specific assessment that the Iranians are targeting the UK or even could, if they wanted to”.

He also highlighted the contrasting positions taken by the UK and the United States on the war, with British leader Keir Starmer attracting US President Donald Trump’s ire in recent weeks.

“It is not the first time in history that the United Kingdom and a British prime minister has taken a different view from the US president. It happened in Vietnam,” said Reed.