The United Kingdom has been attacked by Iran, within the ongoing war in the Middle East following the attack by Israel and the US against that country. The Akrotiri base - located in Cyprus, but legally a British Overseas Territory, like Gibraltar or the Falkland Islands - was hit by an Iranian drone that caused "minor damage" to a runway and other infrastructure. This is the first time that British territory has been attacked by the Armed Forces of another country since the Falklands War in 1981. Additionally, Cyprus currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.
The United Kingdom forces responded to this attack with drones against their military base in Cyprus, as reported by the Ministry of Defense on Monday, with no casualties.
The base remains operational. Immediately after the attack, several Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets and a tanker aircraft took off to patrol for more Iranian vessels. The base is not only home to British forces but also American forces. Akrotiri hosts a permanent detachment of the famous U2 spy plane, currently monitoring Iran, and in recent days, F-15 fighter jets, RC-135 electronic warfare aircraft disrupting communications in Iran, and C-17 transport planes have arrived.
The British Ministry of Defense had provided little information early this morning about the situation at the base. It was only known that there were no personal injuries, although the facility's personnel were instructed to stay in their accommodations and away from windows or other structures that could break in case of an explosion. The United Kingdom has 3,000 personnel at two bases in Cyprus, Akrotiri, under the Air Force, and Dhekelia, under the Army, specializing in electronic espionage. Both are British territories.
Presumably, Iran reached the base with a Shaheed 136B drone, which has a range of 4,000 kilometers. The distance from Iran to Cyprus is about 2,500 kilometers. However, to evade US and Israeli fighter jets and anti-aircraft defenses, the drone likely followed an arched trajectory. Confirming the range of the Shaheed-136B indicates that Greece and much of the Balkans are within Iran's firing range.
The attack took place an hour after the UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, authorized the US to use British airbases to launch attacks against Iran. Starmer justified the decision due to Iran's bombings against Kuwait, the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman. "Our Gulf partners have asked us to do more to defend them. And my duty is to protect the lives of the British people." There are about 94,000 UK citizens. According to Starmer, "the only way to stop that threat is to destroy the missiles at their source: in their warehouses or in the launchers from which they are fired."