Iran fires missiles toward Cyprus, home to UK military bases, amid escalating crisis, London says
Iran fired two missiles in the direction of Cyprus, where British military bases are located, U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey told Sky News on March 1, with timing and target unclear.
The statement comes amid sharply rising tensions in the Middle East after the U.S. and Israel launched coordinated military strikes against Iran on Feb. 28.
Akrotiri and Dhekelia, two Cypriot territories in the eastern Mediterranean, remain under British sovereignty and host military bases, as well as several settlements.
Healey said he was confident the missiles did not target British military bases, but added that the strikes highlighted the "indiscriminate" nature of Iran's retaliatory campaign.
After joint Israeli and U.S. strikes on the capital of Tehran and several other Iranian cities, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it fired missiles and deployed drones toward Israel and against U.S. military bases across the Gulf, including in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.
Three hundred British troops were stationed near Iranian targets in Bahrain, which came under attack on Feb. 28, Healey said, adding that "some of them were within several hundred yards of the missile strikes."
Healey declined to comment on the legality of the Israeli and U.S. strikes, but emphasized that the U.K. was acting within international law and that British aircraft would intercept any missiles or drones they encountered.
"When our U.K. planes fly from Qatar, they are protecting against any missiles or drones directed towards Qatar," Healey said. "When they fly from Cyprus, they are doing the same for Cyprus."
Healey reiterated U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's calls for Iran to halt missile attacks and abandon its weapons programs.
The Iranian regime just hit a multistory building in Bahrain. It is out of control. pic.twitter.com/rmbmmTk6Eb
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) February 28, 2026
"Make no mistake that this is a regime which harasses other countries and can never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon," Healey said.
The U.K. defense secretary also noted that Iran was behind 20 terrorist attacks in the U.K. and had supplied Russia with 50,000 drones used against Ukraine.
In the wake of a joint U.S.–Israeli military strike that killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the IRGC vowed to launch "the most ferocious offensive operation in the history of the Islamic Republic" against American and Israeli forces, saying it would target U.S. bases and Israeli assets across the region.
Iranian attacks in the region also struck civilian targets, including a high-rise building in Bahrain.
Commenting on events in the Middle East, President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was "fair to give the Iranian people a chance to rid themselves of a terrorist regime — to rid themselves of it and to guarantee security for all nations that have suffered from terror originating in Iran."
The European Union reaffirmed its "steadfast commitment to safeguarding regional security and stability" in the Middle East, while French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris is calling for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
