The UK said it's allowing the U.S. to use its bases for defensive strikes against Iran amid escalating missile attacks, after a suspected drone strike hit a British airbase in southern Cyprus, causing limited damage.
In a video message on X on Sunday (1 March), British Prime Minister Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, “The United States has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose. We have taken the decision to accept this request to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region.”
Starmer emphasised that Britain was not involved in the joint U.S.-Israel airstrikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and would not join further waves of strikes.
However, he warned that Iran had retaliated with missile attacks across the region, targeting airports and hotels where British citizens were staying.
He added, “Our decision that the UK would not be involved with the strikes on Iran was deliberate, not least because we believe that the best way forward for the region and for the world is a negotiated settlement, one in which Iran agrees to give up any aspirations to develop a nuclear weapon.”
Protecting British lives
Starmer explained that Britain’s Gulf allies had requested additional protection. “Iran is striking British interests nonetheless, and putting British people at huge risk,” he said.
He noted that British fighter jets were already engaged in coordinated defensive operations, intercepting Iranian strikes.
According to Starmer, the only way to neutralise the threat is to destroy missiles at their source in storage depots or launchers.
He framed the decision to allow U.S. use of British bases as an act of “collective self-defence of long-standing friends and allies and protecting British lives” under international law.
Britain's Royal Air Force base Akrotiri in Cyprus was hit by a suspected drone strike overnight, causing limited damage and no casualties, Cypriot authorities and the UK's Ministry of Defence said on Monday.
The UK Ministry of Defence confirmed no casualties. A Cyprus government spokesperson said, “Information received through various channels indicates that it involved an unmanned drone, which caused limited damage.”
Britain maintains sovereignty over two bases on the eastern Mediterranean island, which is part of the European Union.
Authorities said they've planned the temporary dispersal of non-essential personnel as a precautionary measure the Sovereign Bases Administration said.
Other facilities Britain has on the island will continue to operate normally, it said.
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