Nato 'cannot confirm' Iran behind attack on UK-US base after Iranian denial

Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte has said the military alliance "cannot confirm" Israel's claim that missiles allegedly targeting the UK-US base on Diego Garcia last week were fired by Iran. 

His comments raise further questions about the strike against the military base in the Indian Ocean, which was first reported in US media.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing unnamed US officials, that Iran had fired two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at the US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean but did not hit it.

One of the missiles failed in flight, while a US warship fired an SM-3 interceptor at the other, according to the Journal.

The Israeli military then claimed Iran had targeted the base with a two-stage intercontinental ballistic missile, which it said had at least two rocket engines and could be propelled up to 4000km.

Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said Iran's missile range "extends to the capitals of Europe - Berlin, Paris, and Rome are all within direct threat range".

But in response, the Iranian government denied targeting Diego Garcia.

On Sunday, British ministers accused Iran of attacking the base.

Communities Secretary Steve Reed told the BBC: "Our assessment is that the Iranians certainly targeted Diego Garcia. As we understand it, one missile fell short, failed. The other was intercepted and prevented."

But Reed dismissed Israeli claims that Iran had the capability to strike Britain and other parts of Europe with ballistic missiles.

'We cannot confirm that'

Despite Israeli and British claims, on Sunday Nato Secretary General Rutte told CBS that "we cannot confirm" whether Iran fired missiles at Diego Garcia.

"We cannot confirm that at the moment, so we're looking into that," he said.

"But if this would be true, it is more evidence that what the president [Trump] is doing here, taking out the ballistic missile capability, taking out the nuclear capability from Iran, is crucial."

It is unclear which US destroyer shot down a missile and where exactly it did so.

It is also unknown how close the missiles came to Diego Garcia, which Reed refused to comment on to the BBC.

The reported attack on Diego Garcia came before Britain said on Friday it had agreed to allow the US to use British bases to launch strikes on Iranian sites to help protect ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi said on Friday he had told British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper in a phone call that the UK's choice to let the US use British bases was "participation in aggression".

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"These actions will definitely be considered as participation in aggression and will be recorded in the history of relations between the two countries," Araghchi said.

"At the same time, we reserve our inherent right to defend the country's sovereignty and independence."

He accused Britain of a "negative and biased approach" which "violates international law".

The British Foreign Office said that in the phone call, Cooper "condemned Iran’s reckless attacks - including on Gulf partners and critical energy infrastructure - and Iran’s disruption and closure of the Strait of Hormuz".

Cooper called for the "immediate restoration of freedom of navigation" and "made clear to the foreign minister that the defensive UK operations in the region were a response to the Iranian aggression against Gulf partners countries who had not attacked Iran."

According to the Foreign Office, Cooper warned Araghchi "against targeting UK bases, territory or interests directly".

Earlier in the war a British base in Cyprus, Royal Air Force Akrotiri, was hit by a drone attack - but the UK said the strike was believed to have originated from Lebanon.