Iran Fires IRBMs At Diego Garcia, As US-UK Foil Attack

NC Bipindra

Though both the IRBMs fired reportedly by Iran could reach the intended target, even the attempt to target an out-of-area military base of the US meant Tehran’s missile capabilities far exceeded what was publicly known to date.

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A reported Iranian missile attempt on the US-UK base at Diego Garcia has raised fresh concerns over the expanding range of Tehran’s capabilities, even as Western defences intercepted the threat amid rising tensions in the wider conflict. Image courtesy: RNA

Iran reportedly fired Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBMs) at a joint US-UK military base in Diego Garcia in the middle of the Indian Ocean on Saturday (March 21, 2026), but the attack failed, even as Tehran denied it had targeted the military facility.

The United Kingdom had only hours earlier approved the use of Diego Garcia by the US for military operations in West Asia to safeguard the maritime traffic passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran had blockaded the narrow sea lanes of communication since February 28 after Tehran came under a US-Israel missile attack that killed its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran reportedly fired two ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia, around 3,800 km away from the nearest Iranian coast. A US official claimed neither of the missiles could strike the facility, as one was intercepted and the other failed to reach its target.

The use of an IRBM by Iran indicated that it had missiles with longer ranges than previously known.

If confirmed, the use of the longer-range ballistic missile would mark Iran’s first operational use of IRBMs and a significant attempt to target areas far beyond the Middle East and threaten US and European interests.

Though both the IRBMs fired reportedly by Iran could reach the intended target, even the attempt to target an out-of-area military base of the US meant Tehran’s missile capabilities far exceeded what was publicly known to date.

If true, the IRBMs have ranges that could hit anywhere in Europe, and this posed a greater threat to the Western nations.

Though Iran has denied it fired those missiles at Diego Garcia, the claims by the US officials could mean that Washington was attempting to draw the European nations into the war that they have avoided for three weeks.

These claims could be an American attempt to change the perceptions in the European capitals by appealing to their threat perceptions from Iranian missiles.

One of the IRBMs failed in flight, and the other was intercepted by an SM-3 interceptor fired by an American warship, according to Western media reports

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