>>179015
cont...
Much further than the previously estimated ranges of Iran’s missiles
But, after firing two missiles at the airbase, Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency reported that the missiles were fired at the base on Friday. “Iran’s targeting of Diego Garcia, about 4,000 kilometers [nearly 2,500 miles] away from Iran, implies its missiles have a greater range than Tehran has previously announced,” Mehr News Agency reported. “Iran’s targeting of US faraway military base demonstrates its missile capability in targeting long-range positions.” Indeed, the range touted by the state-backed outlet would be much further than the previously estimated ranges of Iran’s missiles, excepting the Simorgh rocket — a space launch vehicle for satellites — if it were repurposed as a ballistic missile.
Neither the U.S. nor the United Kingdom provided information about how far the Iranian ballistic missiles flew. However, if the Iranian regime-backed news outlet can be trusted, such a range would place most of Europe within the radius of the IRBMs, including the more than 38 U.S. military bases on the continent. Members of the European NATO alliance host the U.S. European Command (Stuttgart, Germany), strategic air and naval bases, and U.S. forward-deployed nuclear weapons.
“It's sort of amusing to look back now, carried by arms control experts and European leaders that we know Iran doesn't have missiles that can fire more than 2000 kilometers, because the Supreme Leader said that they wouldn't do that. Well, that wasn't true,” Fleitz said. “They have missiles with at least a range of 4000 kilometers, which can almost get to Paris. And for all we know, the missiles can go even further,” he added.
Though many European leaders have been hesitant about becoming overtly involved in the conflict, there are signs that their tune may be changing after Iran’s attempted long-range strike last week.

“He’s doing this to make the whole world safe,” says NATO brass
Two days after the ballistic missiles were launched, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte — who has developed a close working relationship with President Trump since the latter’s term began last year — offered an endorsement of the U.S. military operation against Tehran and said he expects all the NATO nations to eventually come together to support him.
“He’s doing this to make the whole world safe,” Rutte told CBS News’ Margaret Brennan on Sunday.
He said the European members “always come together” and said that a nuclear-armed Iran would be as much a threat to Europe as the United States.
While the continent’s leaders have been reluctant to endorse the operation in public, the United States has relied heavily on its European bases and those of its allies to sustain the current conflict against Iran. The bases, which are spread from the United Kingdom to Turkey, have been used for refueling planes and drones, command and communications.
One of those reluctant allies, the United Kingdom, announced on Monday that it would send short-range air defense systems to the Middle East in order to counter Iranian missile strikes.
Iran’s strikes on its neutral neighbors and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz have also prompted Europe to adopt a more pro-U.S. stance in the conflict. One day before the long-range ballistic missile launch, a coalition of 30 nations in and outside of Europe issued a joint statement condemning those strikes.
The countries, which included the U.K., France, Italy, Japan, Australia and other allies, also announced their “readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait.” Whether that will include military assistance to the U.S. is not yet clear.