A cabinet minister has appeared to reject claims by the IDF that Iran could launch missiles on London following their attempt to target a British-American base in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
Steve Reed, the communities secretary, told radio station LBC on Sunday: "We are perfectly capable of keeping the United Kingdom safe and that's what we've done”, he added: "Where there have been attempts to target British assets, as with the Diego Garcia, they have failed – and they will continue to fail. We have the resources we need to keep the United Kingdom safe from any kind of attacks”.
"Our assessment is that they targeted it with two missiles. One failed, the other was intercepted. So we have perfectly adequate resources to keep the United Kingdom safe. And everybody should feel reassured, reassured about this”, Reed continued.
The BBC reported that the incident took place between Thursday night and Friday morning.
On Friday evening, the government announced that the United States would be allowed to use British bases for “US defensive operations to degrade the missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz.”
On Saturday night, the IDF’s official account on X suggested that Iran might have the capabilities to launch missiles at European targets, including London.
❗️The Iranian terrorist regime launched a long-range missile for the first time since the start of Operation Roaring Lion that could reach a distance of ~4,000 km.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 21, 2026
During Operation Rising Lion in June 2025, the IDF revealed that the Iranian regime has intentions to develop… pic.twitter.com/iliERIu2hV
“The Iranian terrorist regime launched a long-range missile for the first time since the start of Operation Roaring Lion that could reach a distance of ~4,000 km. During Operation Rising Lion in June 2025, the IDF revealed that the Iranian regime has intentions to develop missiles with a range of 4,000 km, which pose a danger to dozens of countries in Europe, Asia and Africa”, they said, adding: “The Iranian regime denied this. We have been saying it: The Iranian terrorist regime poses a global threat. Now, with missiles that can reach London, Paris or Berlin.”
Despite being targeted by the Iranians, Reed maintained that Britain isn’t seeking further involvement in the conflict.
"The UK isn't going to get dragged into this war. We will provide the resources and have been providing the resources to keep our assets and our national.
"Whether that's the Typhoon jets, whether it's the Merlin and Wildcat helicopters, whether it's the hundreds of additional military personnel we now have in the region, we are doing what we need to do to keep our people safe."
On Saturday, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch criticised that the attack on Diego Garcia was revealed “from the media and not the prime minister”.
“As we saw with Peter Mandelson, Starmer’s first instinct is always to cover up the truth. On Wednesday he attacked me at PMQs for calling for the proper defence of our bases, now we learn that as he did so our base in the Chagos Islands was being targeted by Iran.”
The leader of the opposition added: “The prime minister needs to immediately come clean about the details of this latest attack on British troops and explain why the public weren’t informed sooner.”
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