A UK minister insists Britain is not at war after an Iranian drone hit a British base in Cyprus, as the government works to assist 300,000 citizens in the region.
LONDON: A UK minister insisted Britain is not at war after an Iranian drone struck the runway of a Royal Air Force base in Cyprus, hours after Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the country would not join the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.
Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer stated on Monday that the UK took a deliberate decision not to be part of the first wave of strikes conducted by the United States and Israeli governments.
He added that in the face of reckless attacks from Iran on a whole range of allies in the region, the government took the decision to support the US’s request to use British bases in order to conduct defensive actions.
Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper said the strike on the Royal Air Force base at Akrotiri had been specifically on the airport runway and that the government was working on every possible option to help its nationals in the region return home if needed.
She told Sky News there is an estimated 300,000 British citizens in Gulf countries that have now been targeted by Iran, including countries where airspace is now closed.
Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides said the strike took place just after midnight when a Shahed unmanned aerial vehicle crashed into the military facilities of the British Bases in Akrotiri, causing minor material damage.
The RAF Akrotiri base is a British overseas territory near the southern coastal city of Limassol.
More than 100,000 UK nationals have so far registered their presence in the Middle East, according to Cooper.
Scottish teacher Felicity Flanagan, who lives in Dubai, said she had been sheltering at home since Saturday when she heard loud bangs while at the beach with friends.
She told the BBC’s Radio Scotland that moments later, they actually saw what they believed to be shrapnel from the missile then fall into the water in front of them.
Starmer, speaking late on Sunday before news of the strike on RAF Akrotiri, said the decision not to be involved with the initial strikes was deliberate.
He said in a video address posted on X that everyone remembers the mistakes of Iraq and that those lessons have been learned.
Rosa Freedman, an expert on international law and conflicts at the University of Reading, told AFP the current situation was materially different from the war in Iraq in 2003.
She said the hostilities were part of a broader conflict following the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel and concerns about its nuclear programme.
