United States Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth has warned that Iranian missiles could potentially strike London, citing Iran's recent missile test that reached 4,000km. Hegseth made the statement at a White House cabinet meeting, claiming Iran had lied about its missile capabilities.
Hegseth said: 'Two days ago they shot two failed missiles at a target 4,000km away. For years they only told the world their missiles could only range 2,000km, surprise - yet again, Iran lied.' He added: 'London is only 4,000km from Iran.'
However, UK officials have downplayed the threat. Defence Secretary John Healey said there is 'no assessment that Iran has any plans to attack' the UK, while Housing Secretary Steve Reed stated there is 'no specific assessment that the Iranians are targeting the UK or even could if they wanted to.'
The warnings follow claims that Iran fired two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at the Diego Garcia military base, which houses UK and US troops. One missile reportedly failed in flight, while the other was intercepted. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance 'cannot confirm' the origin of the missiles.
Iran has denied targeting Diego Garcia, with foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei calling the accusations 'disinformation'. Tehran has previously stated it unilaterally limited its missile range to 2,000km, but experts say it possesses missiles with a range of up to 3,000km.
