Iran Missile Shot Toward B-2 Stealth Bomber Forward Base at Diego Garcia: “This Was a Message Iran Will Go After Critical Infrastructure” (From FOX News)

The U.S. Air Force has flown bomber combat missions with B-2s, B-1s, and B-52s from Diego Garcia for over 30 years, beginning with operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Bomber Task Force missions, including U.S. F-22 fighters, KC-135 and now KC-46 tankers, and all three bombers have frequently used the long runway there.  Diego Garcia also hosts a U.S. Navy support facility with maritime prepositioning, engineers, and other personnel assisting U.S. military sealift. 

Iran’s launch of two missiles on a trajectory toward Diego Garcia was a desperate attempt at escalation.  Iran failed; an unnamed U.S. warship targeted the salvo for a mid-course intercept and exo-atmospheric kill at 65,000 feet, likely with an SM-3, part of the Standard Missile family that has scored hits on Iran’s missiles since 2024.

The targeting of Diego Garcia was topic one for this conversation with Fox News Anchor John Roberts, host of FOX News Channel’s America Reports.   

Highlights below, and full clip here.

John Roberts: Iran has specifically maintained they were developing ballistic missiles, less than 2000 kilometers or about 900 miles, and not going for the intermediate range stuff.  This would seem to put the lie to what they were claiming, yet again.

Rebecca Grant:  Yes, and we saw their space-launch capability. The IRGC popped up a rocket back in 2024; so you lighten the warhead, you put in some more propellant, another stage, now you’ve got that reach towards Diego Garcia. What was so scary, John, is that it is one of our biggest forward bomber bases: our B-52s, B-2s, and B-1s have all operated out of there, of course, their tankers and occasionally fighters too, so that was Iran trying but failing, thanks to that U.S. Navy sea-based ballistic missile capability.

John Roberts: We should also point out that at the beginning of this conflict, the UK had denied us permission to use that base; it has been reopened after President Trump, I think, took a strip off of Keir Starmer.  The Council on International Mediation said this about the attempted missile strike: the real story is not whether the missile was intercepted; it is that Iran may have demonstrated reach far beyond what much of the world believed it possessed.  A 4000-kilometer capability changes the map.  Major European capitals begin to come into range, Paris comes into range, and London moves much closer to the edge of vulnerability, depending on launch point and payload, if confirmed.  Diego Garcia was not just a target; it was a message.” Now, hitting an island, it’s only 15 by 5 miles wide in the middle of the Indian Ocean, it’s a pretty hard target to hit, but if you fire one of those at Paris, which is about 7 or 8 miles across, even if you miss, you’re likely going to hit something well. 

Rebecca Grant:  That Diego Garcia attempt was a message that Iran will go after critical infrastructure. Now the U.S. and the Europeans have known all along that Iran had this possible rogue missile capability. Why? That’s why we have early warning radars in Poland and Romania set up for that, and why we have an entire destroyer squadron based out of Rota in the Mediterranean. Right now, our primary defense against Iran’s long-range missiles is sea-based shots with the SM-3 and family from our destroyers.

John Roberts: President Trump said late yesterday on Truth Social that the United States is engaged in talks with Iran about potentially bringing an end to this conflict. Here’s what he said.

President Donald J. Trump (Sound on Tape): We’re dealing with the man who I believe is the most respected and the leader; and you know it’s a little tough, they’ve wiped out, we’ve wiped out everybody. They’re not the Supreme Leader, but the people that seem to be running it, and they seem [to be running it], based on fact, because things they’ve said have taken place…people were asking for the name, we don’t want him to be killed, so I’m not going to tell you.  

Rebecca Grant: Whoever it is we’re talking to, I can tell you this: Iran’s escalation has failed.  So, oh yes, Iran wants to talk about how they get out of this mess.  But we’ve got to destroy the rest of their military capability first.

John Roberts:  We’ve seen video of those underground missile cities, as they call them, and they seem pretty formidable. I know that the U.S. and Israel are trying to knock them out as best they can, but that’s buried deep in the ground.

Rebecca Grant: They’re doing a tremendous job, and it’s about finding those targets, the Bunker Busters, and then looking for any additional targets that have popped up and of course getting after the rest of that anti-ship cruise missile threat in the Strait of Hormuz and putting that great maritime surveillance over the Strait so that we can think about getting more shipping traffic moving.