Iran fired two missiles in the direction of Cyprus, where the United Kingdom maintains military bases, defence secretary John Healey said, warning that the retaliation from Tehran showed signs of being indiscriminate.
Speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sky News, Mr Healey said: “We are pretty sure they weren’t targeted at our bases.” However, he added that “it shows how indiscriminate” the Iranian retaliation is.
He also confirmed that 300 UK military personnel were close to missile targets in Bahrain. “Some of them were in several hundred yards of the missile strikes,” he revealed on Sky News.
Follow live update on US-Israel stikes in IranThe comments came a day after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced that the UK had ordered “planes in the sky” over the Middle East to carry out defensive operations. Mr Healey repeated the prime minister’s call for Iran to halt its actions and “steps back from its increasing uncontrolled indiscriminate attacks in the region” and “gives up its weapons programs.”
The escalation follows waves of missile strikes launched by the United States and Israel on Iran in what they described as pre-emptive operations targeting military infrastructure and senior leadership, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Speaking on Sky News, Mr Healey said: “Few people will mourn the Ayatollah’s death.”
He added that he was more concerned about the wider regional repercussions. Citing Iran’s activities, he referred to 20 terror plots on UK streets organised by Tehran, the deaths of tens of thousands of its own citizens and the supply of 50,000 drones to Russia for use in Ukraine.
“Make no mistake that this is a regime which harasses other countries and can never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon,” he said on Sky News.
Mr Healey declined to comment on whether the US and Israeli strikes were lawful. Asked about the legality of the action, he told Sky News: "No one who has seen the way that Iran has menaced us and sponsored terror around the world, been a source of instability in the region, is developing a nuclear weapons program, can be under any doubt about the character of this regime, and the threat it poses."
Pressed again, he said: "That is for the US to set out and explain. It's not for me, as defence secretary of the UK, I'm here to speak for the UK.
"I can speak for the very active participation that we have in coordinated defence across the region."
He added that “everything the UK does is within international law”.
The defence secretary also declined to say whether Britain could be drawn into direct operations alongside the United States and Israel.
Describing current UK activity, he told Sky News: "When our UK planes fly from Qatar, they are protecting against any missiles or drones directed towards Qatar.
"When they fly from Cyprus, they're doing the same for Cyprus.
"But of course, when our planes are in the air and they see things, missiles or drones directed towards other countries, they'll take them down."
He said Britain was reinforcing regional stability as part of coordinated defence efforts across the Middle East.
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