Middle East Monitoring Desk Islamabad
Iran launched two intermediate-range ballistic missiles toward Diego Garcia, a strategically vital joint US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
Neither of the missiles struck the base, according to the outlet, with one malfunctioning mid-flight, and a US warship attempting to intercept the other with an SM-3 missile. It is unclear if the interception succeeded, said the Journal, citing US officials.
No statement was issued by Iranian or American authorities regarding the reported attack.
The strike attempt is significant for what it reveals about Iran’s capabilities. Diego Garcia lies roughly 4,000 kilometers (2,484 miles) from Iran, double the 2,000-kilometer limit Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed last month Tehran had deliberately imposed on its arsenal.
The island, the largest in the Chagos Archipelago in the central Indian Ocean, has hosted a joint US-UK military presence since the 1970s and serves as a base for long-range bombers and other strategic assets.
The Iranian Army announced a successful drone strike at on military infrastructure of the Zionist regime in the occupied territories, targeting fuel storage facilities and the deployment site of enemy fighter refueling aircraft at Ben Gurion Airport.
The Public Relations Office of the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran issued Statement No. 37 confirming the operation.
“At dawn today, drones of the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran struck military infrastructure of the Zionist regime in the occupied territories, including fuel depots and locations hosting enemy refueling aircraft for fighter jets at Ben Gurion Airport,” the statement read.
The Army recalled in the statement that despite intense censorship by the Zionist enemy, repeated strikes by the Army and the IRGC on military installations of the occupying regime have severely disrupted fuel supply to military aircraft, airport operations, flights at Ben Gurion Airport, and military troop movements.
It added that such disruptions have forced the enemy to relocate forces via rail, endangering civilian lives.
Separately, the statement emphasized that the comprehensive and extensive database of targets in the occupied territories has enabled the armed forces to sustain drone operations with long reach.
“These precise and deadly strikes deep inside the occupied lands will continue with full force until the threats against the dear Iranian nation are completely eliminated,” the army said.
Ben Gurion Airport, in addition to housing refueling tankers and fuel storage, serves as headquarters for special units and air force facilities of the Zionist regime’s army.Adjacent to it are aviation industries and maintenance centers for fighter jets of the occupying regime.
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Earlier on 20 March, Iran carried out a large-scale overnight military operation targeting sites in Occupied Palestine and US bases in the region at 01:20 a.m. on Friday, deploying advanced missile systems and drones in what has been reported as a fully successful strike.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said the 66th wave of Operation “True Promise 4” was launched “as a tribute to the spirit of the martyrs of resistance, Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis,” using the code “Ya Zahra (AS),” and struck targets in central and southern occupied territories, including Tel Aviv, as well as the US military positions in the region.
The IRGC stated that the retaliatory assault employed a combination of solid- and liquid-fuel systems, including heavy, precision-guided, and multi-warhead missiles such as Ghadr, Khorramshahr, Kheibar Shekan, and medium-range Qiam and Zolfaghar, alongside loitering attack drones.
Meanwhile, the statement stressed that such operations are exposing the vulnerability of Israeli criminal regime’s war cabinet and its Western backers, stating that continuous sirens and prolonged confinement of illegal settlers have become the defining outcome of the ongoing imposed war.
“The criminal war cabinet of the Zionist regime, in an attempt to escape its previous defeats, internal crises, and the Epstein scandals, has entered into a pre-defeated and unjust war with Iran, resulting in severe and unbearable conditions in shelters over prolonged periods and a life dominated by constant sirens for the residents,” the statement concluded.
Seyed Mojtaba Khamenei ; “Resistance Economy in light of National Unity and National Security.”
