British forces in the Chagos Islands will be legitimate targets for Iran if Donald Trump attacks the rogue state, it warned.
The threat comes after the US President said military action against the regime would follow if it did not sign a deal over its nuclear programme.
In response a senior Iranian military official said Tehran would strike the joint US-UK naval base on Diego Garcia in the event of any attack.
He said: “There will be no distinction in targeting British or American forces if Iran is attacked from any base in the region or within the range of Iranian missiles.
“When the time comes, it won’t matter whether you’re an American, British, or Turkish soldier – you will be targeted if your base is used by Americans.”
Iran, which funds Hamas, hailed the October 7 massacre which killed 1,500 in Israel a “success” and threatened to turn the conflict into a raging Middle East war.
After the appalling events of 2023 its leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said an Israeli assault on Gaza would “unleash a much heavier torrent of anger”, adding: “The occupying regime seeks to portray itself as a victim to escalate its crimes further…this is a misguided calculation. It will result in even greater disaster.
“This destructive earthquake (Hamas attack) has destroyed some critical structures (in Israel) which will not be repaired easily. The Zionist regime’s own actions are to blame for this disaster.”
Now Tehran is fleeing its muscles again, saying it would strike the Diego Garcia facility with ballistic missiles and suicide drones in retaliation for any US “hostile action against the Iranian nation”.
It warned: “Iran possesses adequate weapons for such an attack from its mainland, such as newer versions of the Khorramshahr missile that have an intermediate range, and the Shahed-136B kamikaze drone with a range of 4,000km [2,485 miles]”.
The base, it added, was in Tehran’s crosshairs because it is home to a strategic bomber force capable of striking Iran’s underground facilities.
“The B-2 Spirit, a bomber with long range, payload, and advanced stealth features, is often cited as an ideal platform for delivering heavy bombs to Iranian underground facilities.
“In such a scenario, the bomber would certainly take off from NSF Diego Garcia, making the 3,800km-away base a target for an Iranian retaliatory operation.”
At least three B-2 spirit bombers arrived at the outpost this week, satellite imagery showed.
Iranian state media listed the Diego Garcia base as a potential target alongside other US military locations across Asia and the Middle East, including a naval base in Bahrain close to a Royal Navy support facility.
Diego Garcia is the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago – British sovereign territory that the Government wants to hand over to Mauritius.
The base, which has been a joint UK-US facility since the 1970s, has been a key point of contention in the deal to give up the islands.
There are believed to be about 4,000 US and British personnel on the island, made up of servicemen and civilian contractors.
The British detachment reportedly numbers around 40 people who provide police and customs services. A small contingent of Royal Marines undertakes security duties.
As part of the Government’s proposed deal with Mauritius, Diego Garcia would be leased back to the UK at a reported annual cost of £90 million, allowing military operations to continue.
A UK government spokesman said: “We condemn these threats in the strongest terms. The UK Government continues to work with partners across the region to encourage de-escalation. The base on Diego Garcia is vital to UK and US security and plays a crucial role in maintaining regional and international security.”
Since returning to office, Mr Trump has restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran, which aims to stop it obtaining a nuclear weapon by driving its oil exports down to zero.
He recently warned that “very bad things will happen” if Tehran fails to agree to a nuclear deal.
He said: “I sent them a letter just recently, and I said: you have to make a decision, one way or the other, and we either have to talk and talk it out or very bad things are going to happen to Iran.
“I don’t want that to happen. My big preference – and I don’t say this through strength or weakness – my big preference is, we work it out with Iran. But if we don’t work it out, bad, bad things are going to happen to Iran.”