The UK is drawing up plans to evacuate thousands of Brits from the Middle East, Good Morning Britain Correspondent Jay Akbar reports
A suspected drone strike hit RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus after the prime minister gave the US permission to use the site to attack Iranian missile positions, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed.
There were no casualties in the incident at the base near Limassol in the early hours of Monday, but the Sovereign Base Areas Administration said “a temporary dispersal” was being planned for non-essential personnel.
An MoD spokesperson said: “Our armed forces are responding to a suspected drone strike at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus at midnight local time.
“Our force protection in the region is at the highest level and the base has responded to defend our people.
“This is a live situation and further information will be provided in due course.”
Konstantinos Letymbiotis, a Cyprus government spokesman, said in a statement on X only “limited” damage was caused.
In an earlier statement, people living in Akrotiri village had been advised to “shelter in place”.
According to the MoD’s website, the joint operating base is “used as a forward mounting base for overseas operations in the Middle East and for fast jet training”.
It is understood that the UK government has recently deployed additional resources to bases in Cyprus as part of its ongoing operations in the Middle East.
The strike came hours after Keir Starmer said the UK had allowed the US to strike Iranian missile sites from British bases as officials plan an unprecedented rescue operation for UK citizens in the Gulf.
Hostilities in the Middle East are entering their third day, with the US and Israel continuing to strike Iran following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the initial attack on Saturday morning.
Tensions in the region continued overnight on Monday, with Israel launching strikes on Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, after Hezbollah fired missiles across the border.
More than 200,000 British nationals, including military personnel, are thought to be at risk in the Gulf as the Tehran regime launches further missiles at its neighbours.
Late on Sunday, the prime minister said he had agreed to a US request to use British bases to protect UK nationals and allies in the region, accusing Iran of pursuing a “scorched earth strategy”.
Starmer said British forces would not be directly involved in the strikes, and the bases would only be used for the “specific and limited defensive purpose” of targeting missile storage depots and launchers being used to attack Iran’s neighbours.
He said: “We have taken the decision to accept this request – to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region, killing innocent civilians, putting British lives at risk, and hitting countries that have not been involved.”
It is not clear which bases will be used, but Donald Trump has previously referred to asking to use Diego Garcia, one of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean.
Reports have also suggested the US could use RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, which can handle American heavy bombers.
Starmer’s decision followed a day of conversations with regional leaders, during which it is understood they asked the UK to do more to protect them from Iranian missiles.
The prime minister insisted the decision was fully in line with international law, and the government has published a summary of its legal position setting out that it is acting in “collective self-defence”.
The UK will also continue to carry out the defensive operations that have engaged British forces in shooting down Iranian drones threatening northern Iraq and Qatar.
The Foreign Office has mounted an unprecedented operation to support British nationals in the region.
Officials are understood to be working on plans for potential evacuation routes should airspace in the Gulf remain closed for an extended period.
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