Iran-US war latest: Missiles fired at UK’s Diego Garcia base as Tehran warns new tactics will leave US ‘dumbfounded’

The UAE says it intercepted three ballistic missiles and eight drones launched from Iran on Saturday.

Posting on X, the Defense Ministry of the United Arab Emirates said that since the “onset of the blatent Iranian aggression”, it had engaged with 341 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles and 1,748 drones.

It said: “The Ministry of Defence affirmed that it remains fully prepared and ready to deal with any threats, and will firmly confront any attempts to undermine State security in a manner that ensures the protection of its sovereignty, security and stability, and safeguards its national interests and capabilities.

Iran launched a long-range missile that could reach a distance of 2,500 miles, Israel’s military said, following the attempted attack on the UK-US military base on Diego Garcia.

It’s not known when the unsuccessful attack took place, but it is believed to be before the UK gave the US permission to use its military bases to carry out strikes on Iranian missile sites on Friday.

One of the missiles was shot down by a US warship while the other failed in flight, the Wall Street Journal reported.

In a post on X, Israel Defense Forces said: “The Iranian terrorist regime poses a global threat. Now, with missiles that can reach London, Paris or Berlin.”

The Israeli military said it was the “first time” Iran had used long-range missiles in the conflict, marking its first expansion beyond the Middle East since the United States and Israel began attacking Iran on February 28.

Saudi Arabia has ordered Iran’s military attache and four other embassy staff to leave the kingdom within 24 hours after declaring them persona non grata, the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement, citing what it described as continued Iranian attacks against Saudi territory.

Earlier, it was reported that Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility had been struck with the country’s official news agency, Mizan, saying there had been no leakage after the apparent strike on the Natanz nuclear facility.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was informed by Tehran and was looking into the incident.

Israel’s military said it was “not aware” of a strike there by its own military.

Tonight, the agency said it had received no indication of damage to the site, adding regional authorities had reported no abnormal radiation levels following the incident and that it was closely monitoring the situation and would continue to seek further information.

The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said Iran’s new tactics and launch systems will leave the US and Israel “dumbfounded”.

In a post on X, Seyed Majid Mousavi said: “From this moment, I declare the missile dominance of Iran’s sons [forces] over the skies of the occupied territories.

“The new tactics and launch systems employed in the upcoming waves will leave the American-Zionist commanders dumbfounded. Tonight, the skies over the south of the occupied territories will remain illuminated for hours.”

When translated on Google, the post reads that the US and Israel will be “speechless”, while another translation shows Mousavi to say they would be “astonished”.

The foreign ministers of the G7 have said they are prepared to take necessary measures to support global energy as they condemned Iran’s “unjustifiable attacks” against civilians and civilian infrastructure.

In a statement, they said: “We … express support to our partners in the region in the face of the unjustifiable attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies.

“We condemn in the strongest terms the regime reckless attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including energy infrastructure,” they added.

Ministers reaffirmed the importance of safeguarding maritime routes, including in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Group of Seven includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Some 39 people have been left injured after an Iranian drone attack in Dimona, Israel.

Magen David Adom said casualties included a 10 year old boy in serious conditions, a woman in her 30s in moderate conditions, and 37 people left with mild injuries.

The Independent’s Holly Evans reports:

Tehran directed two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands but neither hit. One of the missiles wasreportedly shot down by a US warship, while the other failed in flight.

On Saturday, the minitry of Defence condemned the attack as “reckless”.

Diego Garcia is around 2,360 miles away from Iran and home to an airbase capable of accommodating long-range US bombers, with around 2,500 American troops based on the island.

The UK has agreed to cede sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius and lease back the base, in a move that has strained relations with Washington in recent months.

Diego Garcia is strategically valuable to the US, and has been used as a launchpad for operations in the Middle East for years, with Donald Trump describing the deal as a “big mistake”.

US-based rights group HRANA said on Friday that 3,220 people have been killed. It said 1,398 of those were civilians, including at least 210 children.

The latest figures reported by state media put the toll at 1,270 people.

Lebanese authorities claim that around 1,024 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since 2 March. The World Health Organisation and Lebanese health authorities said more than 100 of those killed were children.

In Iraq, at least 60 people have been killed, according to authorities.

Fifteen civilians have been killed, including nine people in an Iranian missile strike on Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem on 1 March 1, according to Israel’s ambulance service.

The Israeli military said two of its soldiers were also killed in southern Lebanon.

Four Palestinian women were also killed in an Iranian missile attack in the occupied West Bank.

There have been 13 service members killed since the US launched an attack on Iran.

Six were confirmed dead after a US. military refuelling aircraft crashed over Iraq, the US military said, while seven others have been killed in action during operations against Iran.

Eight people have been killed in Iranian attacks, including two army soldiers, according to the UAE defence ministry.

Authorities have reported six deaths, including two people killed in Iranian attacks, two interior ministry officers and two army soldiers.

Four people were killed when an Iranian missile struck a building in the southern Syrian city of Sweida on February 28, state news agency SANA said.

Two people were reported killed on 13 March in a drone strike on an industrial zone in Sohar province, marking the first fatalities inside the country, which had been hosting mediation talks between the U.S. and Iran. One person died earlier when a projectile hit a tanker off the coast of Muscat, the vessel’s manager said.

Two people were killed when a projectile fell on a residential location in Al-Kharj city, southeast of the capital Riyadh.

Two people were killed in two separate Iranian attacks, with the most recent hitting a residential building in the capital Manama, according to the interior ministry.

One French soldier was killed and six others were wounded after a drone attack in northern Iraq, where they were providing counterterrorism training.