Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth has warned that Iran can hit London with missiles, a global threat coming from Tehran that should have more U.S. allies concerned.
Hegseth cited the two missiles that Iran fired at the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia last month.
The UK government confirmed that both missiles missed their targets, but this incident has made people even more worried about the threat Iran could pose to Britain itself.
The Israeli military has previously claimed that Iranian missiles could achieve a range of around 4,000km, placing numerous countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa at risk.
Without explicitly naming Diego Garcia, Hegseth said: “Two days ago they [Iran] shot two failed missiles on a target 4,000km away. For years, they told the world that their missiles could only range [2,000] kilometres. Surprise. Yet again, Iran lie.”
He continued, “And to the world. I say London is 4,000km from Iran. Washington DC is 3,300km from Venezuela, another country President Trump did something about, which partnered for a long time with Iran. So you’re telling us that Iran is not a threat to the world or to the US? President Trump knows better.”
This week, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei ordered that the stockpile of enriched uranium “should not leave the country,” rejecting the key demand of President Donald Trump in ongoing peace talks.
Amid highly volatile and fragile diplomatic engagements between Tehran and Washington, the parties made this decision.
According to Israeli officials who spoke to Reuters, President Trump had previously given Israel assurances that Iran’s inventory of highly enriched uranium, which is a critical component in the construction of a nuclear weapon, would be entirely removed from the Islamic Republic.
Simultaneously, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained a resolute stance, stating that he will not consider an end to hostilities until the enriched uranium is completely removed from Iranian custody, Tehran completely ceases its financial and material sponsorship of regional proxy militias, and the country’s ballistic missile infrastructure is completely dismantled.
Nevertheless, this stance has encountered a wall of opposition in Tehran.
One of two Iranian sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the highly sensitive nature of the geopolitical situation described the internal consensus within Iran’s highest decision-making bodies.