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.
“The Supreme Leader’s directive and the consensus within the establishment, is that the stockpile of enriched uranium should not leave the country,” they claimed.
The same insiders disclosed that Iran’s highest administrative and military echelons are convinced that the material’s transfer overseas would significantly erode domestic security, rendering the nation significantly more susceptible to future military incursions by Washington and Tel Aviv.
Reuters reported that the Supreme Leader maintains ultimate authority over all critical state policies under Iran’s constitutional framework.
The present diplomatic impasse is occurring in the context of a precarious cessation of hostilities that has been in place since April 8.
This fragile truce was initiated in response to a series of military attacks against Iran by the United States and Israel on February 28.
Tehran initiated retaliatory strikes against Gulf nations that hosted American military detachments in the immediate aftermath of those attacks.
At the same time, Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah units in Lebanon engaged in intense cross-border combat.
Negotiators have been unable to make a substantial diplomatic breakthrough, despite the current pause in active combat.
Tehran’s strategic leverage over the Strait of Hormuz, an essential choke point for the global energy supply, is counterbalanced by a stringent US naval blockade that stifles Iranian shipping centers.
Consequently, the bargaining table remains significantly complicated.
Pakistani mediation is currently facilitating these high-stakes discussions as some think they could be making progress.
