Middle East Crisis Iran War

Sources: US Island Base 400 Miles from Iran Fired

Iran has fired two ballistic missiles at the island of Diego Garcia, where the US and Britain have a joint military base. This is reported by sources for both the WSJ and CNN.

Neither of the missiles reached its destination. One crashed in mid-air, the other was shot down by US air defenses, but it is unclear whether it was actually shot down.

Diego Garcia is the largest of the Chagos Islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean, about 400 miles from Iran. The attack shows that Iran's missiles reach further than the 200 miles to which the country's foreign minister has said they have limited their range.
 

Oil Market
US lifts oil sanctions on Iran – in the middle of war

The US Treasury Department is temporarily lifting some of its oil sanctions on Iran, at the same time as the countries are at war in the Middle East. Until April 19, purchases of Iranian oil that is already at sea will be allowed, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on X.

According to Bessent, this is about 140 million barrels of oil, equivalent to 10 to 14 days of supplies that would otherwise have gone to China. By lifting the sanctions, “it increases global energy availability and helps alleviate temporary supply pressures,” according to Bessent.

– In effect, we will be using the Iranian oil barrels against the Iranians themselves to keep the price down for the next 10 to 14 days, he claims.

The Washington Post and The Guardian simultaneously write that the move is likely to increase Iran’s revenues in the midst of the war. It is also a departure from the “maximum pressure” tactic that Trump has long used against Iran, writes CBSNews.
 

Reactions
Ukrainian experts are shocked by the ineffective US air defense: “What are they doing?”

Despite President Trump's words that "the last person we need help from is Zelenskyj," the US Central Command has brought in Ukrainian advisers in the Iran war, The Times reports.

One of them tells the newspaper that he has been shocked by how ineffective and wasteful the US air defense is. The Americans are firing up to eight Patriot anti-aircraft missiles - which cost three million dollars each - at individual targets, including cheap drones, he says.

During four years of war, Ukraine has developed one of the world's most advanced air defenses. On average, they only fire one or two Patriot missiles to destroy Russian ballistic missiles.

Ukraine shares its tactics with all allies that use the US Patriot system, but they still seem to have bypassed the US, according to the adviser.

- I don't understand what they are doing, what direction they have been looking in during the four years we have been at war.