Cyprus criticises UK’s response to drone attack ahead of Healey visit
Cachella Smith
BBC
The Cypriot government has criticised the UK’s response to drone attacks against an RAF base on the island as Defence Secretary John Healey arrives in Cyprus.
Cypriot High Commissioner to the UK Dr Kyriacos Kouros told BBC Newsnight Cypriots were “disappointed” about the information sharing with residents after RAF Akrotiri was hit overnight on Sunday.
The attacks came days after the initial US-Israel strikes on Iran on Saturday morning which have led to an Iranian retaliation.
Home Office Minister Alex Norris said the UK was “resolute” in protecting the nation’s interests and that “significant” time had been spent building defensive systems in the eastern Mediterranean.
On Tuesday, the government announced it would deploy British warship HMS Dragon – which has air defence capabilities – to Cyprus following the drone strike on RAF Akrotiri. But officials later said it would not sail until next week.
The Cypriot government’s criticism is the latest aimed at the UK’s response to the war in the Middle East.
US President Donald Trump said it was “shocking” that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer initially refused the US use of UK military bases for the strikes. The UK has since permitted the use of military bases for “defensive” strikes on Iranian missile sites.
Separately, the first chartered flight due to bring British nationals back home from the region did not depart as scheduled on Wednesday night and remains in Oman on Thursday, as the Foreign Office cited technical issues.
Norris said on Thursday that the government was “looking to get [the flight] gone today”.
Speaking in the House of Commons earlier this week, Sir Keir defended the government’s approach to the conflict as he said protecting British nationals was his “number one priority”.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the government should consider what the UK’s allies in the region are saying.
“Cyprus feels that we have not been helpful. It is extraordinary that Bahrain and Kuwait and the UAE are publicly criticising us,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
After meeting the Cypriot defence minister, Healey said the “longstanding friendship” between the UK and Cyprus was “strong in the face of Iranian threats”.
The drone which struck RAF Akrotiri caused “minimal damage” and did not result in any casualties, the defence minister said earlier this week.
Western officials said the Shahed-type drone was not fired from Iran. However, officials would not say where the missile originated from.
Further drones headed towards the base were intercepted and the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) temporarily moved family members from the base to alternative accommodation.
Asked by Newsnight whether people in Cyprus felt protected by the UK, Kouros said: “Let’s say the people are disappointed, the people are scared, the people could expect more.”
He added he would “thank [Starmer] for paying attention to our worries and I’d love to see more”.
Norris told BBC Breakfast on Thursday that defensive systems set up in the eastern Mediterranean have had a “really significant impact in recent days”.
“We are absolutely resolute in protecting the nation’s interests – and that’s what we’re doing and we’re working of course with our partners of which Cyprus is obviously a really close one,” Norris said.
Some have questioned why the UK did not send a British ship to the region sooner, given the build up of US military in the region and President Donald Trump’s public threats to attack Iran.
The UK’s Royal Navy has no major warship in the Mediterranean region.
The MoD said HMS Dragon would reinforce “RAF Typhoons, F-35B jets, ground-based counter-drone teams, radar systems, and Voyager refuelling aircraft already deployed”.
The French Armed Forces have said they currently have a warship positioned off the coast of Cyprus after President Emmanuel Macron issued orders for it to sail to the Mediterranean on Tuesday.
Badenoch called for more action from the government, telling Today: “Once our bases had been attacked we became part of this.”
Underlining that she does not want to see an escalation, Badenoch said: “We need to do what we can to stop the ability for these attacks to take place.
“Simply sitting back and hoping the opponents will be nice and leave us alone is not a strategy.”