Posted on 03/21/2026 8:49:21 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
That may not qualify as breaking news, since the Iranian regime has lied about practically all of its threats to the region and beyond. The theocratic-military junta has lied for 47 years about its sponsorship of terrorism, and they lied over and over again about their pursuit of nuclear weapons. Those lies got exposed over and over again, and yet leaders in Europe and the US kept insisting that the regime could become a trustworthy partner in non-proliferation talks.
Iran just exposed another lie, one that should rattle Europe. The IRGC launched a missile attack on the joint US-UK base in Diego Garcia, at a range of 2400 miles (~4,000 kilometers) or more. The attack failed, but that range doubles what Iran had admitted in previous talks, and the reach of those missiles puts most of Europe within range of attacks. Fox News notes the implications of this long-suspected but denied capability in the last 90 seconds of this clip from earlier today:
Three weeks ago, the Iranians insisted that their ballistic-missile systems had a range no farther than 2,000 kilometers/1250 miles. During the final phase of negotiations, the regime refused to discuss imposed limits on their missile systems, insisting they were entirely defensive:
Speaks for itself:
Feb. 25, 2026: “We are not developing long-range missiles… we have limited the range below 2,000 kilometers” — Iran’s FM Araghchi (IRNA).
March 20, 2026: Iran fires missiles at Diego Garcia—ranging 4,000 kilometers (WSJ). ⬇️
pic.twitter.com/F4ncRLSGq3— Brett McGurk (@brett_mcgurk) March 21, 2026
That changes the threat profile Iran presents, and changes it dramatically. These missile systems put most of Europe in range of an Iranian ballistic missile attack:
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).
Theoretically could also target sites into Central Europe.
pic.twitter.com/8KCQtsHPQ4— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 21, 2026
Depending on the location of the launchers, every capital in Europe could be within this system's target range. Most already are, as this map demonstrates, which assumes the launchers would be located in central Iran. Moving the launchers to the area of the Azerbaijan or Turkey border would shift the range considerably to the west. Lisbon might be too far a reach, but London and Madrid would be at least within theoretical range of this advanced ballistic-missile platform.
Interestingly, but not surprisingly, few if any other media outlets have reported on this revelation about the threat range of the Iranian regime. Bloomberg noted it and provided a potential explanation:
Iran launched ballistic missiles at the joint US-UK military base in Diego Garcia on Friday, demonstrating a weapons capability that goes beyond what Tehran was known to have possessed.
The base, a strategic airfield that can host B-2 stealth bombers located nearly 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) away from Iran, suffered no damage, according to a person familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity.
It was the first time in the three-week-old war that Tehran was reported to have deployed weapons with that kind of range, with one expert suggesting it may have used a modified space launch vehicle to conduct the attack. US and Israeli strikes have already destroyed some parts of Iran’s satellite and rocket programs.
For decades, Iran claimed that its "space" program was for peaceful purposes. That's also what they claimed about their uranium-enrichment and nuclear-power programs as well.
Analysts warned that the Iranians intended to build ICBMs that they would eventually use to threaten or attack Europe and the US. Donald Trump raised this point explicitly while justifying the decision to go to war. This new attack on Diego Garcia shows that the Iranians had progressed much further toward that goal than they admitted, and their refusal to negotiate on their ballistic-missile programs proves they intended to develop that threat fully ... and put nuclear warheads on top as well.
At least the feckless Starmer government in the UK understands the stakes a little better after this development:
The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense called Iran's strikes against its military base at Diego Garcia island "reckless," reaffirming its stance to allow the United States to use its bases in the war.
"Iran's reckless attacks, lashing out across the region and holding hostage the Strait of Hormuz, are a threat to British interests and British allies," a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense said in a statement. ...
Though Iran threatened to strike at U.K. bases on Friday after Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the U.S. would be allowed to use its bases for some Operation Epic Fury strikes, the ministry told CNBC that Iran's strikes on Diego Garcia were launched before Starmer's announcement was made.
Exactly, Starmer just got a whiff of what Iran had in mind for Europe. Let's see if the rest of the feckless set in Brussels figures it out.
As Walmart says”who knew”? 🤓
Do we know how far the missile(s) actually flew and how close did they get to Diego Garcia?
There’s far more to reaching the ICBM threshold than just packing more propellant into a rocket. Because ICBM warheads spend part of their trajectory traveling in space, they require the engineering of a heat-shielded reentry vehicle, along with more sophisticated guidance technology.
Last May, the Defense Intelligence Agency predicted that, if it chose to, Iran could have upwards of 60 ICBMs by 2035.
For now, the bigger question is what kind of ballistic missile technology the Iranians are already packing. The Israeli Alma Research and Education Center had previously pegged Iran’s maximum range at 3,000 kilometers.
This apparent debut of Iran’s IRBMs raises wider concerns than just Diego Garcia: If Iran can actually reach that island, it implies Iran could also take shots at targets as far away as Central Europe or Scandinavia and if they continue on this path... eventually the East Coast of the USA !
Yes. One failed and broke up enroute. The second one got very close and was shot down by one of our Navy's anti-missile ships sailing off Diego Garcia.
Thank you.
Well maybe Walmart, Walter Goggins. And Trumpy knew. Hard to believe the IRains would lie and there’s Europe with their ass hanging out and no missle defense systems because they’re to cheap to invest in them, plan ahead, and defend themselves. Hell, they won’t pay their share to NATO without Trump twisting their nads a bit.
Time to wipe out the rest of it if they're going to use them as weapons.
It’s important that we ALWAYS trust
Son of Satan Barack Hussein Obama
He did such a great job with the JCPOA
/Huge Sarcasm Tag
We knew. The Europeans ignored us.
They got lucky.
I appreciate the Iranians popping these off and showing the Europeans to be cowards and fools.
In 1974 a US submarine was on patrol in the Mediterranean Sea. We were a ballistic missile boat, packing missiles capable of going several thousand miles. We had to be undetected. Very important because we were a NATO boat covering NATO targets. What they were we didn’t know. Hell, might have been Miami. We didn’t know. Point is we were propping up Europe back then because they’re were the weak sister. They haven’t figured it out yet.
Pretty close to achieving orbit. From orbit nowhere on Earth is safe .
Accuracy is a challenge. Polaris at max range gets most warheads(each missile carried more than one) was all but one could hit Yankee Stadium. Posiden was better range and at max all warheads landed in the infield. Trident doubles the range and lands on the mound. Bear in mind, this is shooting at the pitching rubber and this was over 30 years ago. The US didn’t get here by accident and the Iranians were catching up. IMO
.... I wonder if this war is still going to be over in a few weeks???
The war is never over, we just have pauses. We’ve been at this for 3 weeks. Quit worrying, ya ain’t dead yet.
With allies like Russia and China, no one should be surprised that Iran has the ability to hit every capital in Europe and potentially the USA.
Is it impossible to think that Iran has stored away in a cave somewhere has a few ICBMs capable of hitting Washington DC or New York.
I think Iran showing off this capability could a sign of their collapse, if you are Iran and believe everything is crashing in all around you and the end is near for the regime, you will launch everything you have and launching IRBMs at Diago Garcia could be a sign they are beginning to launch everything they have.
It also points out all the so-called security experts you read about every time this subject gets mentioned, don’t know any more than your average person who stays current with the news.
“Is it impossible to think that Iran has stored away in a cave somewhere has a few ICBMs capable of hitting Washington DC or New York.”
If, I’m just saying if, they blow up DC the Chinese and Russians will kick their ass. The trash in DC, all of them are why we are here. Trump is the only one pushing back. If, again if they hit DC I hope he’s in Mirlago and Congress is in session.
How far away was the boat they fired it from?
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