The Islamic state has a checkered history. Much of it is an exercise in funding terrorists.
But now Iran is finally exposed for putting the crosshairs on Donald Trump.
Iranian military brass are reportedly mulling a daring preemptive strike on a joint U.S.-U.K. base on Chagos Island in the Indian Ocean, aiming to throw a wrench in President Donald Trump’s plans should he greenlight an attack on Tehran.
The Telegraph first broke the story, spotlighting Iran’s latest gambit to flex its muscles against a resolute American leader.
“Like any Iranian military threat, the art is to determine what is bluster and what is real,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, an Iran expert and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital when pressed on Tehran’s strategy. He sees through the smoke and mirrors: “Deception is a propaganda tool used to bolster deterrence and prevent a conventionally weak regime from having to fight.”
Taleblu added, “By threatening everywhere, the regime hopes to have to fight nowhere – meaning its revolutionary foreign policy gets to remain uncontested.” It’s a crafty play, but one that hinges on keeping foes guessing.
Fox News Digital hasn’t independently verified the threat against Diego Garcia, a strategic outpost 2,400 miles south of Iran.
Still, Iran watchers are sounding the alarm—Tehran might not need direct missile reach to rattle U.S. interests.
Taleblu noted on X that Iran caps its ballistic range at about 1,200 miles, but its IRGC could stretch that to 1,800 miles with the Khorramshahr-2 missile.
Then there’s the upgraded Khorramshahr-4, dubbed the Kheibar, rumored to push even further, though its full punch remains untested.
Even if 2,400 miles is a stretch, Iran’s proven it’s got tricks up its sleeve. From turning merchant ships and oil tankers into floating arsenals to wielding Russian and Chinese cruise missiles, Tehran’s shown it can extend its reach.
“There’s always the chance of using a foreign-procured container launched cruise missile from even an unconverted tanker or commercial vessel at sea,” Taleblu explained in his X post, nodding to tactics honed since the Iran-Iraq War.
Iran could also lean on its terrorist allies, smuggling missile tech to chaotic hotspots like Yemen to gain an 800-mile boost southward into the Indian Ocean.
“While all these options would make Iran’s launch platforms, especially at sea, easy targets for a counterstrike, they mean that Tehran does have options to strike further afield than expected,” Taleblu said. It’s a high-stakes chess move—one that could backfire spectacularly.
Trump’s been turning up the heat, issuing stern warnings to Iran in recent days. He’s made it clear: arming the Houthi terrorists or pushing its nuclear ambitions could spark a direct showdown.
The U.S. response to an attack on its forces remains a wild card, but Tehran’s shaky defenses—laid bare by Israel’s past strikes—suggest it might not like the odds.
Iran, meanwhile, dashed off a complaint to the U.N. Security Council on Monday, griping about Trump’s “reckless and belligerent” rhetoric.
Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani wrote, per Reuters, that Tehran “strongly warns against any military adventurism and will respond swiftly and decisively to any act of aggression or attack by the United States or its proxy, the Israeli regime, against its sovereignty, territorial integrity, or national interests.”
