John Healey arrived in Cyprus on Wednesday night to ease the diplomatic repercussions after a drone slipped past detection and struck an RAF base, sparking anger among local ministers. British officials think the drone that struck the RAF base in Cyprus avoided detection by flying low and slowly, and was launched by a pro‑Iranian militia in Lebanon or western Iraq. However, investigators have not been able to determine definitively the launch point of the Shahed‑type drone. The incident took place amid Iran’s retaliatory bombardment over the weekend following a series of US and Israeli strikes on Iran that killed the nation’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The defence secretary’s trip arrives as Cyprus reacts to the drone assault on RAF Akrotiri, prompting the evacuation of families residing on the bases and a strengthening of its defences. The Sunday strike, together with two further drones intercepted on Monday morning, are believed to have been launched by the Shia militia Hezbollah, an organisation supported by Iran.
The drone, a low‑cost Iranian model, serves as a one‑way weapon. While no casualties were reported and damage was minor, the incident and the inability to prevent the drone from reaching the base have provoked displeasure from the Cypriot government. Cyprus’s defence minister met Healey on Wednesday morning in Nicosa.
The drone attack marked the first assault on a British military site on the island in four decades. Prime Minister Keir Starmer noted that the drone was launched before the UK announced on Sunday evening that it would permit the United States to use two of its bases for defensive measures against Iran. No RAF facilities in Cyprus are currently employed by US bombers.
Cyprus’s high commissioner to the UK, Kyriacos Kouros, said the nation was “disappointed” by Britain’s failure to alert island residents to the looming strike. “The people are disappointed, they are frightened, they deserve more,” he told BBC Newsnight. “Greater cooperation with the Cypriot government is needed to ensure such incidents do not recur.”
On Monday, President Nikos Christodoulides of Cyprus openly criticised the inability to intercept the drone and affirmed that the country would not take part in any military operation. “We must state that we view this with dissatisfaction,” spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Tuesday, noting that there was “no clear clarification that the British bases in Cyprus would under any circumstances be used for purposes other than humanitarian reasons,” as stated by the UK prime minister on Sunday. He added: “All appropriate measures will be taken to convey our displeasure, both regarding the manner in which the message was delivered and the lack of a timely warning to Cypriot citizens residing near the Akrotiri bases yesterday.”
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