RAF responding to suspected drone strike at UK base in Cyprus, MoD says
A British RAF base in Cyprus was targeted by a "suspected drone strike" on Sunday night, the Ministry of Defence has said.
The MoD said the armed forces were responding to the attack at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus at around midnight local time (22:00 GMT). The BBC understands there were no casualties in the suspected strike.
"Our force protection in the region is at the highest level and the base has responded to defend our people," the MoD said.
It comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the UK had agreed to a US request to use British military bases for "defensive" strikes on Iranian missile sites.
The latest conflict began on Saturday morning when Israel and the US launched a "massive" and ongoing attack against Iran's leadership and military, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei among those killed.
Iran has responded by firing ballistic missiles and drones at US assets and allies across the region, targeting Israel, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.
Defence Secretary John Healey said earlier on Sunday that British troops and civilians in the Middle East were being put at risk from "indiscriminate attacks" by Iran.
In a separate earlier incident, Healey said two ballistic missiles were fired towards Cyprus although he was "pretty sure" it was not being targeted.
A Cypriot government spokesman later said Sir Keir had "clearly confirmed that Cyprus was not a target" during a telephone call with the country's president Nikos Christodoulides.
On Sunday, an RAF Typhoon jet operating out of Qatar shot down an Iranian drone in a "defensive air patrol", the Ministry of Defence said.
It was the first time a UK fighter had brought down an Iranian drone since the US and Iran strikes began.
Earlier, a UK counter-drone unit in Iraq took down an Iranian drone that was heading towards a coalition base housing UK service personnel.
However, Sir Keir said the UK had learned lessons from the "mistakes of Iraq", and was not involved in the initial strikes on Iran and would "not join offensive action now".
Sir Keir said the basis of the decision to accept the US request to use British military bases was the "collective self-defence" of allies and protecting British lives, accusing Iran of pursuing a "scorched-earth strategy".
The BBC understands the US is likely to use RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for strikes on Iranian missile sites.
