NATO Secretary General Uncertain Iran Attacked Diego Garcia Base
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BRUSSEL – NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has stated that it cannot yet be confirmed whether Iran carried out an attempted attack on the US-Israeli base on Diego Garcia Island in the Indian Ocean. This comment follows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s persuasion of countries to join in attacking Iran, under the pretext that the country possesses long-range missiles capable of reaching Europe.
“We cannot confirm it at this time, so we are investigating it,” the Dutch politician said in an interview with CBS News last night. He added that if it is proven that Iran carried out the attack, Iran’s missile capabilities must be taken into account.
“If Iran has nuclear capabilities, including missile capabilities, then this will be a direct threat, an existential threat, to Israel, the region, Europe, and global stability,” he said.
However, he reaffirmed that they are still investigating whether Iran truly attempted to attack the Diego Garcia base. “What we know for certain is that they are close to having that capability. However, in the case of the British base, Diego Garcia, we are still assessing it. But if it is true, it means they already have that capability. If it is not true, we know they are close to having that capability.”
An attempt to target the joint military base Diego Garcia with ballistic missiles was reported to have occurred between Thursday night and Friday morning, according to US media. The Wall Street Journal and CNN, citing anonymous US officials, reported that one of the missiles failed mid-flight while the other was intercepted by a US missile fired from a warship. It was not explained how close the missile was to Diego Garcia when it was intercepted.
British officials provided no details regarding the Diego Garcia attack attempt. The Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of War, has also not issued an official statement on the missiles targeting Diego Garcia hours after the attack.
Meanwhile, a UK cabinet minister, Steve Reed, stated that Iran does not have the capability or intention to attack Britain with its missiles. “There is no specific assessment that Iran is targeting Britain or [that they] could even do so if they wanted to,” he said to BBC One when asked about Israel’s warning that Britain and other European countries could become targets of Iranian missiles.
Regarding the reason Israel issued such a warning, he said: “You need to talk to Israel.” “Whatever people say, Britain will not be dragged into this war, but we will take the appropriate collective defensive actions to protect the safety of our citizens and interests.
“I am not aware of any assessment at all that they are even trying to target Europe, let alone that they could do so if they tried. But even if they did, we have the necessary military capabilities to defend this country.”