The ongoing war in West Asia entered a new stage when Iran fired two intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) at Diego Garcia, the joint US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, as per a report in the WSJ.
This is the second time the Indian Ocean has become a part of the war theatre, after a US submarine torpedoed and blew up the IRIS Dena, killing dozens of Iranian sailors returning from a Naval exercise in Visakhapatnam.
The attack, Iran’s first direct strike on the remote strategic outpost since the war began, demonstrated Iran’s previously undisclosed or underappreciated long-range strike capability, estimated at around 4,000 km.
The 4000 km range is far ahead of the known limits of missiles like the Sejjil (roughly 2,000 km). Neither missile struck the base: one reportedly failed mid-flight, while the other was intercepted or otherwise neutralised, with no confirmed damage or casualties.
Bigger story here: implied range of an Iranian IRBM from a launch box in central Iran, with a range of ~4500 km (distance to Diego Garcia).
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 21, 2026
Theoretically could also target sites into Central Europe. pic.twitter.com/8KCQtsHPQ4
The launch followed Britain’s recent approval for US forces to utilise Diego Garcia for operations against Iran, including B-2 bomber strikes on missile facilities, amid heightened tensions after weeks of Iranian missile barrages on Israel, Gulf allies, and US assets.
The attempt to hit Diego Garcia shows Iran’s intent, after the recent escalations when Israel struck the Pars gasfield, a strike that US President Donald Trump claimed he was not informed about.
The IRIS Dena was torpedoed and sunk by the USS Charlotte (SSN 766) in the early hours of March 4 off the Sri Lankan waters, about 22 nautical miles away from the port of Galle. 87 sailors were confirmed to have been killed in that strike. 32 sailors were rescued by Sri Lanka. Though the submarine had not come from Diego Garcia, the base was in the news as a possible theatre in the current war.
