Here is what we know about the alleged missile launch and what it means for the war:<\/p>\n
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Six US B-2 bombers and six Stratotanker refuelling planes are seen from a satellite on Diego Garcia island on April 2, 2025 [Handout\/Planet Labs via AFP)Was Diego Garcia airbase targeted by Iran?<\/p>\n
An attempted targeting of the Diego Garcia joint military base by ballistic missiles reportedly happened between Thursday night and Friday morning, according to US media.<\/p>\n
The Wall Street Journal and CNN reported that one of the missiles failed mid-flight while the other was hit by a US interceptor fired from a warship.<\/p>\n
It is said to have happened just hours before UK ministers were to assemble in London to discuss the Iran war. At the meeting, the UK agreed to let the US use its military bases for collective self-defence, such as hitting Iranian missile sites used in attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
UK officials did not provide any details of the attempted Diego Garcia strikes.<\/p>\n
Muhanad Seloom, lecturer at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera that the reported Iranian attack \u201cchanges the calculus\u201d of the war for the US.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese missiles to Diego Garcia mean Iran has 4,000km-plus ballistic missiles, and that hasn\u2019t been revealed before. All reports before that said Iran had a 2,000km [1,240-mile] range and not beyond that,\u201d Seloom said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you reverse the direction of these missiles, then they could reach London, so that changes the calculus not only for the US and its justification for the war but also for a reluctant London and European Union to join the war.\u201d<\/p>\n
A senior Iranian official told Al Jazeera that Tehran is not responsible for the alleged missile launch.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month in an interview with the US broadcaster NBC, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected US President Donald Trump\u2019s assertion that Tehran had developed missiles capable of reaching US territory.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, we have capability to produce missiles, but we have intentionally limited ourselves to below 2,000km of range because we don\u2019t want to be felt as a threat by anybody else in the world,\u201d Araghchi said on March 8.<\/p>\n
Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, an associate fellow in the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House, said Iranian denials regarding attacks depend on their nature and their aftermath.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the denial is different from the steps that Iran is taking on other fronts. Only a couple of instances when Iran denied an attack is when the strikes hit civilian infrastructure or some gas plants rather,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
Iran has denied attacks that Tabrizi believes would likely \u201cprovoke further action or retaliation potentially\u201d. \u201cIt also constitutes a new crossing of a red line that it hasn\u2019t crossed until now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The targeting of the Diego Garcia airbase \u201cis particularly sensitive because we know the distance of the missiles shot was more, much more than the 2,000km which Iran has previously said it kept its missiles to\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt signals the Iranian capability to reach far beyond 2,000km, and therefore, is something that is likely to provoke further concern and, therefore, response particularly from the UK but also from other countries,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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US President Donald Trump, left, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer meet during a state visit by Trump on September 18, 2025, in Aylesbury, Britain [Leon Neal\/Pool via Reuters]What has the UK said?<\/p>\n
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned \u201creckless\u201d attacks by Iran after London insisted it would not be drawn into a wider conflict in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur approach to this conflict has been the same throughout. We were not and continue not to be involved in offensive action, and we\u2019ve taken a different view from the US and Israel on this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Cooper said Royal Air Force jets and other military assets were defending \u201cour people and personnel in the region\u201d. She added that any action to protect the Strait of Hormuz would amount to \u201ccollective self-defence\u201d.<\/p>\n
The strategic strait in effect has been blocked by Tehran, leading to a rise in global oil prices.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Keir Starmer noted on Saturday that the UK would not use a base on Cyprus for Iran-related operations after a call with Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides to discuss the base\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
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Chief of the Israeli military\u2019s General Staff, Eyal Zamir, visits commanders and troops in Gaza [Handout\/Israel\u2019s army]How has Israel reacted to this?<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s military chief, Eyal Zamir, claimed that Iran used \u201ca two-stage intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 4,000km\u201d to target the US-UK base in \u2060Diego Garcia.<\/p>\n
In a video statement, Zamir said: \u201cThese missiles were not intended to hit Israel. Their range reaches the capitals of Europe. Berlin, Paris and Rome are all within direct threat range.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israel, a close US ally, has long said Iran\u2019s missile and nuclear programmes pose a threat and has for decades lobbied the US to intervene militarily. But successive US administrations had resisted the pressure to launch military strikes on Iran. Instead, Washington imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Tehran to deter it from developing nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n
Washington and Tehran have not had diplomatic relations since shortly after Iranian students took over the US embassy in Iran in 1979 and held 66 Americans hostage in the wake of the Iranian Revolution that same year.<\/p>\n
In 2015, then-President Barack Obama signed a deal to limit Iran\u2019s nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief. But the landmark agreement was opposed by Israel. Trump, who succeeded Obama, withdrew unilaterally from the nuclear deal and slapped sanctions back on Iran.<\/p>\n
In June, the US joined Israel in carrying out attacks on Iran during Israel\u2019s 12-day war. The US hit key nuclear sites, and Trump claimed Iranian nuclear facilities were obliterated.<\/p>\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued his war rhetoric against Iran, even as Tehran and Washington started talks over the nuclear issue late last year. Netanyahu had lambasted Obama for failing to include Tehran\u2019s ballistic missile programme under the 2015 deal. Tehran has ruled out bringing the missile programme to the negotiating table.<\/p>\n
As the next round of talks was scheduled, the US and Israel attacked Iran three weeks ago, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Oman, the mediator of the recent talks, said a deal had been \u201cwithin reach\u201d.<\/p>\n
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A US B-1B Lancer awaits its next mission at a forward location in support of the US war in Afghanistan [File: Handout\/US Air Force via AFP]Why could Diego Garcia be a target?<\/p>\n