Iran launched two ballistic missiles at the US-UK joint military base on Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands, a Wall Street Journal report citing US officials said.
The conflict between Iran and the US has decisively reached the Indian Ocean following two distinct and major attacks. Overall, this signifies an expansion of the war’s geographic theater.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, citing US officials, Iran fired two ballistic missiles at the joint US-UK military base located at Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands.
Neither missile struck its intended target. One failed mid-flight; the other was engaged by interceptors launched from a US warship, although it remains unclear whether a direct hit was achieved.
This base is situated approximately 4,000 kilometers from Iranian territory—a range far exceeding previous assessments of Tehran’s capabilities. This implies that Iran could potentially target bases located in Europe.
The Pentagon has not yet issued a statement regarding this incident.
In a post on X, former Union Minister Manish Tewari stated: “If the report that Iran attempted to strike Diego Garcia Island in the central Indian Ocean is accurate, then Iran has just significantly escalated the conflict, sending a very clear message to the West by launching an attack to the south.”
A few weeks prior—in the first naval engagement of the war within the Indian Ocean—a US submarine sank the Iranian warship IRIS Dena using a torpedo south of Sri Lanka, resulting in the deaths of over 85 personnel. The warship in question was a frigate that was returning home after participating in MILAN 2026, a multilateral naval exercise hosted by India.
The Pentagon has stated that neutralizing the Iranian Navy is one of the primary objectives of the war launched against Iran on February 28.
The Diego Garcia base has also served as a staging hub for U.S. bombing campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is one of two British facilities currently being utilized by the U.S. for “defensive” operations against Iran—operations that London also characterizes as “defensive.”
Britain agreed to return sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius but retained the lease on the base situated on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands. U.S. President Donald Trump has openly opposed this handover.