Diego Garcia, a British Indian Ocean Territory and the largest of the islands in the Chagos Archipelago on July 02, 2013 in Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory.
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Iran unsuccessfully targeted a joint U.S.-U.K. military base in the Indian Ocean, the U.K. said Saturday.
«Iran’s unsuccessful targeting of Diego Garcia was before yesterday’s update on the use of U.K. bases by the U.S.,» the U.K.’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) told CNBC in an emailed statement.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said Friday that ministers had approved U.S. forces’ use of British bases to defend the region, including «U.S. defensive operations to degrade missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz.»
The MoD said the U.K. has given the U.S. permission to use its bases at RAF Fairford in England and at Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands for «specific and limited defensive operations.»
Iran fired two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia but did not hit the U.S.-U.K. military base in the Indian Ocean, The Wall Street Journal first reported on Friday, citing multiple U.S. officials.
One of the missiles failed in flight, while a U.S. warship fired an SM-3 interceptor at the other, although it could not be determined if the interception succeeded, the newspaper said.
«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,» the U.K. said in its statement. «[Royal Air Force] jets and other U.K. military assets are continuing to defend our people and personnel in the region.»
The reported attack marked Iran’s first operational use of intermediate-range ballistic missiles and a significant attempt to reach far beyond the Middle East and threaten U.S. interests, the Wall Street Journal said.
The U.K. agreed in May 2025 to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, where the Diego Garcia base is located, to Mauritius, which has long disputed the U.K.’s acquisition and ownership of the archipelago in the Indian Ocean.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the U.K.’s plan.
U.S. allows sale of Iran oil at sea
The war, which began on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli airstrikes against Iranian targets, has effectively choked off the narrow and economically crucial Strait of Hormuz, which separates Iran from the United Arab Emirates.
Around one-fifth of the world’s oil transits the Strait. Daily transit calls have tumbled to nearly zero from highs above 120 seen earlier this year, according to data analyzed by Charles Schwab. Much of the crude from the Gulf usually heads to Asia.
Benchmark Brent crude oil futures for May rose 3.26% to $112.19 a barrel on Friday, its highest close since July 2022. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for April settled 2.27% higher at $98.32 a barrel.
The Trump administration’s latest attempt to ease prices came late Friday, when it waived sanctions on the purchase of Iranian oil at sea for 30 days. The move is expected to bring 140 billion barrels of oil to global markets, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent posted on X.
«This temporary, short-term authorization is strictly limited to oil that is already in transit and does not allow new purchases or production,» he said. «Further, Iran will have difficulty accessing any revenue generated and the United States will continue to maintain maximum pressure on Iran and its ability to access the international financial system.»
The license authorizing the sale and delivery, posted after market hours on the Treasury Department’s website, allows Iranian oil into the U.S. when necessary for its sale, delivery or offloading. Iranian oil hasn’t been meaningfully imported to the U.S. since the 1979 Iranian revolution.
Iran reports attack on nuclear enrichment plant
Iranian media said U.S.-Israeli forces had attacked the Shahid Ahmadi-Roshan Natanz enrichment complex, located south of Tehran, on Saturday morning. Technical experts found that no radioactive leaks had occurred and nearby residents were not at risk.
Israel said it was unaware of such a strike, while the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said it was investigating.
Russia called it «a blatant violation of international law.»
Israel also said it had attacked Tehran, Karaj, west of the capital, and the central city of Isfahan. Three members of a family were killed in a strike on a residential building in the city of Ramsar, Iranian media reported.
Threat to Strait of Hormuz ‘degraded’
On Saturday, Admiral Brad Cooper, head of the U.S. Central Command, touted the U.S. military’s progress in the war, including the deployment of multiple 5,000 bombs on an underground facility along Iran’s coastline in an effort to open up the Strait of Hormuz.
«Iran’s ability to threaten freedom of navigation in and around the Strait of Hormuz has been degraded,» he said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, Trump told reporters on Friday he is not interested in a ceasefire with Iran.
«We could have dialogue, but I don’t want to do a ceasefire,» Trump said from the White House South Lawn before departing for Florida. «You know you don’t do a ceasefire when you’re literally obliterating the other side.»
«They don’t have a navy. They don’t have an air force. They don’t have any equipment,» Trump continued.
In a Truth Social post later Friday afternoon, Trump claimed that the U.S. is «getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East.»
However, hours after Trump’s remarks, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz countered that Israeli attacks against Iran will «increase significantly» in the coming week.
«This week, the intensity of the attacks that the IDF and the U.S. military will carry out against the Iranian terrorist regime and against the infrastructures on which it relies will increase significantly,» Katz said in a video statement.
Iran calls for ‘immediate cessation’ of ‘aggression’
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said there needs to be an «immediate cessation» of what he described as U.S.-Israeli aggression to end the war and wider regional conflict, Iran’s embassy in India said in an X post on Saturday.
Pezeshkian spoke with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi by phone earlier in the day.
Pezeshkian told Modi that there should be guarantees to prevent a recurrence of such «aggression» in the future. He also called on the BRICS bloc of major emerging economies to play an independent role in halting aggression against Iran.
22 countries urge opening of Strait of Hormuz
The leaders from 22 countries — including the United Arab Emirates, the U.K., France, Germany, Japan and Bahrain — released a joint statement condemning Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as well as its attacks on unarmed commercial vessels in the Gulf and on civilian infrastructure, including oil and gas facilities in the region.
«We express our deep concern about the escalating conflict. We call on Iran to cease immediately its threats, laying of mines, drone and missile attacks and other attempts to block the Strait to commercial shipping, and to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2817,» the statement said.
The countries said they are ready to contribute to «appropriate efforts» to ensure safe passage through the strait.
Iran vows safe passage for Japanese vessels
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is ready to facilitate the passage of Japanese vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, adding that negotiations with Japan on the issue are ongoing.
«We have not closed the strait. It is open,» Japanese news agency Kyodo quoted Araghchi as saying in an interview on Friday.
He also said that Iran is seeking «not a cease-fire, but a complete, comprehensive and lasting end to the war.»
Araghchi said Iran has not closed the strategic waterway but has imposed restrictions on vessels belonging to countries involved in attacks against Iran, while offering assistance to others amid heightened security concerns, Kyodo reported.
He added that Iran is prepared to ensure safe passage for countries such as Japan if they coordinate with Tehran.
Iranian gas to Iraq reportedly resumes
Iranian gas supplies to Iraq have resumed at a rate of five million cubic meters per day, the Iraqi electricity ministry said on Saturday, according to the state news agency.
Flows had been cut off since Israel’s attack on Iran’s main gas field, South Pars, on Wednesday.
— Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report
