UK avoids ruling out British aircraft participation in attacks against Iran

London.- British Defence Minister John Healey avoided ruling out on Thursday the eventual participation of British aircraft in joint attacks during the development of the war between the United States and Israel against Iran.

In an interview with Sky News, he was asked whether or not he would rule out participating in offensive attacks against Iran, to which he replied: “As circumstances change in any conflict, one must be willing to adapt the actions taken.” In this regard, he said that, for the time being, all actions carried out by the United Kingdom since the outbreak of the war against Iran on Saturday have been “defensive, legal and coordinated with other allies”. We recommend reading:

Meeting with his Cypriot counterpart

Healey traveled to Cyprus this Thursday to meet with his Cypriot counterpart, Vasilis Palmas, and the personnel stationed at the two military bases that the United Kingdom has on the Mediterranean island: Dhekelia and Akrotiri, near Limassol, which was partially evacuated after being hit by a drone in the early hours of Monday without causing casualties. A British government spokesperson confirmed this Thursday that the Shahed-type drone that attacked Akrotiri was not fired from Iran.

The British Ministry of Defence specified in a statement that Healey and Palmas addressed in Cyprus how the United Kingdom is «reinforcing» its air defense. Only in the British bases on the Mediterranean island have 400 more troops been assigned for this purpose.

He also indicated that, in parallel, the UK’s Chief Defence Advisor for the Middle East, Vice Admiral Edward Ahlgren, is holding meetings with partners in the region on greater British defensive support.

Sending fighter jets to Qatar

This Thursday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the dispatch of four additional Typhoon fighter jets to Qatar to reinforce defensive operations in the area and confirmed that the Wildcat anti-drone helicopters, previously announced, will arrive in Cyprus on Friday. You can also read: While he reiterated the “deliberate” decision not to participate in the initial attacks against Iran alongside the United States and Israel, he also defended the decision to allow the U.S. to use British bases to conduct defensive operations with the aim of destroying Iranian missiles “before they are fired” against British and allied personnel.