Iran for the first time attacked a US base far beyond the Middle East — Guardian

This is the first time Iran has attacked US facilities far beyond the Middle East. It is reported by the British The Guardian.

Iran fired two medium-range ballistic missiles at a joint US-British military base in the Indian Ocean, but none of them hit, the newspaper writes, citing American media.

According to The Wall Street Journal, one of the missiles had problems during the flight, and the other was allegedly shot down by a US warship interceptor SM-3. At the same time, one of the two American officials who reported this information stated that "it was impossible to establish whether there was an interception."

CNN, in turn, also reported, citing an American official, that Iran had launched missiles in the direction of the Diego Garcia base, calling it an important foreign military base for long-range operations and a key airfield for the heavy bomber fleet of the US Air Force.

"These launches were a significant attempt by Iran to go far beyond the Middle East and threaten US interests," the WSJ said. And Iran's strike on Diego Garcia is about 4,000 km from Iran — implies that its missiles have a longer range than Tehran has previously acknowledged," writes The Guardian.

The base is located on the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, which the UK recently transferred to Mauritius.