Defence Secretary John Healey has met his counterpart in Cyprus after criticism over the UK’s response to drone attacks on the RAF base on the island.
Healey met Vasilis Palmas to discuss how UK was reinforcing air defences to support “our shared security,” the PM’s spokesman said.
Cyprus’s High Commissioner to the UK Dr Kyriacos Kouros told the BBC people had been “disappointed” with the information shared after the base was hit on Sunday night.
Downing Street rejected suggestions the government failed to have enough military assets in the Middle East after the base was hit.
The attacks on Cyprus came days after the US-Israel strikes on Iran on Saturday and retaliatory strikes by Iran.
Sir Keir Starmer told reporters on Thursday protective measures at the airbase have always been in place.
“We pre-deployed further assets to Cyprus in January and February for that purpose and we’re bolstering that,” he said.
“I want to be really clear to everybody in Cyprus that we are taking every measure that is needed to protect them, to protect the airbase along with the other places in the region.”
The British warship HMS Dragon – which has air defence capabilities – is being sent to Cyprus but will not sail until next week.
Asked on Thursday if the UK was not fully prepared with the ship not yet in the Mediterranean, the prime minister’s spokesman said: “I don’t accept that. I think the fact is, operational questions, operational decision-making is always kept under review.”
The spokesman was asked about reports that the decision to send reinforcements to the region came weeks after the first US request to use UK bases for strikes against Iran.
“I think we set out yesterday that our defensive capabilities have been deployed since January,” he said.
“That includes air defence, radar systems and F-35 jets in Cyprus and Typhoons in Qatar.”
Healey’s visit to Cyprus on Thursday comes as the UK government warned the situation in the Middle East could last for months.
Minister Hamish Falconer told the Commons: “There are indications this is a crisis not of days but of weeks and possibly months” as he called on Iran to end the “reckless” strikes.
Responding, Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel said: “Britain cannot sit on the fence and our adversaries must know that we must not stand back when our allies are under such attack.”
Earlier, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Sometimes the best way to de-escalate a situation is to try and finish it quickly, rather than let it drag out because you don’t want to get involved.”
“Once our bases had been attacked, I think we became part of this, whether we liked it or not.”
US President Donald Trump has already criticised Sir Keir Starmer’s initial refusal to let the US use British bases for the strikes before the UK then decided to allow their use for “defensive” strikes.
The French Armed Forces have a warship positioned off the coast of Cyprus while the Spanish government has said it would deploy a frigate to the eastern Mediterranean which is due to reach the waters off Cyprus early next week.
Badenoch warned the UK’s allies “think we’re abandoning them”.
“Even if we’re not talking about Iran, Cyprus feels that we have not been helpful. It’s extraordinary that Bahrain and Kuwait and the UAE are publicly criticising us.”
Sir Keir has already said that protecting British nationals was his “number one priority”.
The drone strike on the British military base in Cyprus over the weekend which caused “minimal damage” and did not result in any casualties.
Western officials said the Shahed-type drone was not fired from Iran. However, officials would not say where the missile originated from.
British military officials’ current best assessment is the drone was launched by Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Further drones were intercepted and the Ministry of Defence temporarily moved family members from the base.
On Newsnight Kouros was asked if people in Cyprus felt protected.
He said: “Let’s say the people are disappointed, the people are scared, the people could expect more.”
He added he would “thank [Starmer] for paying attention to our worries and I’d love to see more”.
Earlier, Home Office minister Alex Norris told BBC Breakfast: “We are absolutely resolute in protecting the nation’s interests – and that’s what we’re doing and we’re working of course with our partners of which Cyprus is obviously a really close one,” he added.
Separately, the first chartered flight due to bring British nationals back home from the region did not depart as scheduled on Wednesday night and remains in Oman on Thursday, as the Foreign Office cited technical issues.
Some commercial airlines have started flights from the region to help people get home.
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