The Iranian attack on the Diego Garcia air base — about 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) from Iran — suggested Tehran has missiles that can go farther than it had previously acknowledged.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a video statement that next week, “the intensity of the attacks” by Israel and the United States against Iran’s ruling theocracy will “increase significantly.”
Overnight and into the morning, Iran’s capital saw heavy airstrikes, residents said. The attacks — and threats of more to come — indicate the Iran war shows no sign of abating.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Japan’s Kyodo news service Friday that Iran wanted “not a ceasefire, but a complete, comprehensive and lasting end to the war.”
U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that he was considering “winding down” military operations in the Mideast, which seemed at odds with his administration’s move to bolster its firepower in the region and request another $200 billion from Congress to fund the war.
The U.S. is deploying three more amphibious assault ships and roughly 2,500 additional Marines to the Mideast, an official told The Associated Press. Two other U.S. officials confirmed that ships were deploying, without saying where they were headed. All three spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the military operations.
Saudi Arabia said it downed 20 drones in just a couple of hours Saturday in the country’s eastern region, home to major oil installations. No injuries or damage were reported.
U.K. officials have not given details of the strike that targeted the ocean air base Friday, which was unsuccessful.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Saturday that Iran’s “lashing out across the region and holding hostage the Strait of Hormuz, are a threat to British interests and British allies.”
Britain has not participated in U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran but has allowed American bombers to use U.K. bases to attack Iran’s missile sites.
On Friday, the British government said U.S. bombers can also use U.K. bases, including Diego Garcia, in operations to prevent Iran attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran targeted the base before that U.K. statement.
Iran’s official news agency, Mizan, said there was no leakage after Saturday’s strike on the Natanz nuclear facility, nearly 220 kilometers (135 miles) southeast of Tehran.
On Saturday, the IAEA said on X that it was informed by Iran about the Natanz strike and about there being no increase in off-site radiation levels. The agency said it was looking into the incident.
Iran’s top military spokesperson, Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, warned Friday that “parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations” worldwide will not be safe for the country’s enemies.
The Israeli military said its forces were conducting a “targeted ground operation” Saturday with the support of Israeli aircraft and that at least four militants were killed.
Hezbollah also released a statement saying its fighters clashed with Israeli troops in the southern village of Khiam.
More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran during the war. In Israel, 15 people have been killed by Iranian missiles and four others have died in the occupied West Bank. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed.
