Iranian missile (Image: Getty)
UK Defence Secretary John Healey has confirmed that Iran fired missiles in the direction of Cyprus where British troops are stationed. The Defence Secretary has not confirmed yet whether the missiles were deliberately targeting UK facilities on the island.
Speaking about the attack, My 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 added that around 300 British military personnel were stationed close to sites targeted in Bahrain. The defence secretary appeared on the morning broadcast round a day after Sir Keir Starmer disclosed that the UK had deployed “planes in the sky” over the Middle East as part of defensive operations. His comment comes a day after multiple missiles striked Iran and several other parts of the country in a joint operation carried out by Israel and the US.
Read more: Iran brands Khamenei killing ‘declaration of war against Muslims’
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The Defence Secretary has not confirmed yet whether the missiles were deliberately targeting UK faci (Image: Getty)
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died in the attack, it was confirmed on Sunday morning. Iranian authorities retaliated with many Middle Eastern countries, including Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, experiencing drone attacks over the last few hours.
The Defence Secretary added: “Some of them were in several hundred yards of the missile strikes.” Speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sky News, Mr Healey added: “Few people will mourn the Ayatollah’s death.” However, he said that he is concerned more about the after effect of the attacks on Iran in the wider region.
He said: “Make no mistake that this is a regime which harasses other countries and can never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.” 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.”
Multiple explosions were reported from Iran on Saturday (Image: Getty)
When questioned whether the move by the US was legal, Mr Healey 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 highlighted that “everything the UK does is within international law”.
Describing UK operations, Mr Healey said: “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. So when I talk about Britain playing a role in reinforcing regional stability as part of co-ordinated regional defensive operations, that’s what I mean.”
On Saturday, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement that British planes were “in the sky” in the Middle East as part of a defensive operation “to protect our people, our interests and our allies”. He said in his speech that he wanted to see “peace and security” in the Middle East and the “protection of civilian life”. He added: “Iran can end this now. They should refrain from further strikes, give up their weapons programme and cease the appalling violence and oppression of the Iranian people – who deserve the right to determine their own future.”
However, he confirmed that the UK did not participate in the US-Israel attacks.
It was also revealed today, British troops came within 200 metres of an Iranian drone and missile strike on an American base in Bahrain.
Around 300 UK personnel are believed to be stationed at the base. The headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet was targeted on Saturday morning as Iran launched a barrage of retaliatory strikes.
British forces in Iraq, deployed to the country as part of a counter-IS mission, also came within 400 metres of an Iranian missile strike.
The Express understands all British personnel in the region are safe and accounted for, with force protection measures at the highest level.
And today tensions soared as Iran issued a jihad over the killing of its leader.
Speaking on state television, President Masoud Pezeshkian said: “The assassination of the highest political authority of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a prominent leader of Shiism worldwide… is perceived as an open declaration of war against Muslims, and particularly against Shiites, everywhere in the world. The Islamic Republic of Iran considers it its legitimate duty and right to avenge the perpetrators and masterminds of this historic crime.”