Israel's UN Ambassador: Iran's Missiles Reached 4,000 Kilometers — Double What They Claimed

03/24/2026

Danny Danon Calls on European Allies to Recognize Iran as a Global Threat Ahead of Security Council Session

Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, delivered a pointed statement to reporters ahead of a Security Council session on Wednesday, presenting what he described as proof that Iran's missile capabilities far exceed what the country's own foreign minister claimed just weeks ago — and calling on European governments to treat the threat with the urgency he believes it demands.

"This is not speculation," Danon said. "These are facts. This is a real threat."

At the center of Danon's statement was a direct contradiction between public statements made by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the missiles Iran subsequently fired.

Danon quoted Araghchi as telling the world: "We don't have those. We have intentionally kept the range of our missiles below 2,000 kilometers. We don't have that capability and we don't want to do that because we don't have any hostility against the United States people or Europeans whatsoever."

Days later, Danon said, Iran launched ballistic missiles that traveled nearly 4,000 kilometers — toward Diego Garcia, a remote island in the Indian Ocean that hosts a major joint US-UK military base. Double the range the foreign minister had declared. "That was not a misstatement," Danon said. "It was a blatant lie."

He drew out the implication directly: a range of 4,000 kilometers puts Paris, London, Athens, Copenhagen, and Riga within reach. And if the capability has doubled once, he argued, it could double again. "From 4,000 to 8,000 kilometers would make it capable of striking the heart of the United States."

"Imagine what they could do if they had nuclear ballistic missiles," he added.

Danon used the moment to make an unusually direct appeal to European governments, framing Iran not as a regional problem for Israel and the Gulf states but as a global one.

"Do not treat it as a distant conflict," he said. "You can ask the Gulf States — they did not think that they were next. But we all know what happened in the last three weeks."

He asked European allies to consider where their moral clarity and leadership are — and said he would raise the same questions directly inside the Security Council chamber later in the afternoon. "Israel is already in the arena. This is your moment to step up, to recognize the common enemy, to act now before it's too late for your people."

Asked about the latest developments on a peace plan for Gaza — including reports that Hamas had been presented with a written proposal for phase two of a deal, including disarmament — Danon said he was not aware of any response from Hamas leadership.

Israel's position, he said, remains unchanged: Hamas must be disarmed before anything else can move forward. "There are a lot of good ideas about rebuilding Gaza, humanitarian projects — we support them. But nothing can start before the disarmament of Hamas."

He encouraged Hamas to "look at what happened in other parts of Gaza and learn the lesson."

On reports of possible US-Iran talks in Pakistan later in the week, Danon said he was not aware of any Israeli participation and emphasized that military operations against Iran are ongoing. "Israel and the US continue to target military targets in Iran, and we will continue to do that."

He said that at the end of any conflict, diplomacy becomes necessary — but was clear about what Israel's diplomatic endgame looks like: Iran without nuclear capability, without advanced ballistic missile systems, and unable to reconstitute the threat. "We accomplished a lot. We have weakened the regime. But we have to make sure we don't create conditions for them to go back to what they were. We want to create a different reality on the ground."

On Lebanon, Danon pushed back against comments attributed to Israel's finance minister calling for the effective annexation of southern Lebanon. "I don't think we have a position of annexation in Lebanon. We have no interest in being there." He described Israeli forces in the area as a limited border presence maintained out of necessity, and said Israel's goal remains peace with Lebanon — contingent on the Lebanese government taking control of the south, pushing Hezbollah north of the Litani River, and respecting UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

When asked about Israel's own undeclared nuclear arsenal and whether it is fair to deny other states in the region the same capability, Danon declined to address the nuclear question directly, instead drawing a distinction between what he called Israel's role as a stabilizing force and Iran's record of regional aggression. "Iran has attacked 13 countries in one month. Israel has existed for 77 years and never had a war with 13 countries combined."

Danny Danon is Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. This article is adapted from his press statement at UN Headquarters in New York, delivered ahead of a Security Council session.

---