Iranian strikes “narrowly missed” British troops in Bahrain and were launched in the direction of Cyprus, the Defence Secretary has confirmed.
The Islamic Republic has been lashing out with revenge attacks across the Middle East amid the ongoing US and Israeli operations against Tehran.
This morning, John Healey revealed that Iranian missiles and drones had landed within “a few hundred yards” of some 300 British troops at a base in Bahrain.
At the same time, two missiles had been fired in the direction of Cyprus, where thousands of UK personnel are based.
The UK retains two sovereign base areas, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, which cover around three per cent of the island and serve as key strategic assets in the eastern Mediterranean.
“We don’t believe they were targeted at Cyprus, but nevertheless it’s an example of how there is a very real and rising threat from a regime that is lashing out widely across the region,” the Defence Secretary said.
Speaking to GB News, Mr Healey said Tehran must “stop its increasingly indiscriminate attacks widely across the Middle East”.
“It can end its weapons programmes and return to the sort of negotiations that long-term will secure the stability in the region.
Thousands of UK personnel are based at two sovereign bases on the Mediterranean island
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“We share the primary aim that the US have and allies in the region have, that Iran should never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon,” he added
Addressing British assets in the region, Mr Healy confirmed: “We were putting extra defences into the region several weeks ago.”
“We’ve been leading the way with UK planes in the air that have been protecting other regional allies.”
The Defence Secretary also became the first Cabinet Minister to address the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
“I, for one, do not mourn the end of the Ayatollah..And I, for one, do not mourn the end of the Ayatollah,” he told GB News.
“He led a regime that is a source of evil, murdering its own citizens, sponsoring and exporting terror, including to Britain over the years, and now is responsible for an escalating level of risk because of its widespread, increasingly uncontrolled and less indiscriminate attacks on allies in the region that put UK people at risk as well.”
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