Iran denies responsibility for missile attacks on Diego Garcia

A senior Iranian official told Al Jazeera on Sunday that Iran was not responsible for and was not behind missile attacks on the Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean.

The denial came after the Wall Street Journal reported Friday that two intermediate-range ballistic missiles had been fired toward the base, with neither striking it.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to Anadolu's request for comment.

Diego Garcia is one of two bases the UK has authorized the US to use as part of the campaign against Iran.

The reported incident had drawn attention because Diego Garcia lies 4,000 kilometers (2.485 miles) from Iran, double the 2,000-kilometer limit Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed Tehran had deliberately imposed on its missiles.

The island, the largest in the Chagos Archipelago in the central Indian Ocean, has hosted a joint US-UK military presence since the 1970s and serves as a base for long-range bombers and other strategic assets.