Iran fired projectiles towards a base 4,000 kilometers away

(Patria) - Iran fired two ballistic missiles towards the US-British base Diego Garcia, located 4,000 kilometers away in the middle of the Indian Ocean, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Neither of the two missiles fired towards the base hit their target, the newspaper writes, citing several US officials.

According to two officials, one missile failed during flight, and the other was shot down by a US warship.

Located on an isolated island of the Chagos archipelago, a British territory, Diego Garcia is one of the two bases that the United Kingdom ceded to the United States on Friday for use in "specific defense operations against Iran", along with Fairford in England.

It is a strategically crucial base for the US, with nuclear submarines, bombers, and destroyers stationed in the middle of the Indian Ocean, writes France Presse.

In 2025, the United Kingdom signed an agreement on the return of sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius, while retaining the right to a 99-year lease to ensure the continued operation of the base.

In the late sixties and early seventies, the British expelled about two thousand local residents from the archipelago to build the base, Reuters reports.