Iran’s embassy in Nicosia issued a statement on 2 March condemning what it described as “criminal military aggression” by the United States and Israel, warning that Tehran’s response would be “firm and decisive.”
The statement noted that the attacks which took place in the early hours of 28 February — on the eve of the Persian new year and the tenth day of Ramadan — targeted what it called defensive installations, infrastructure, and civilian sites across several Iranian cities.
The embassy said the strikes constituted a violation of Iran’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty, and occurred while Iran and the United States were engaged in what it described as an active diplomatic process.
According to the statement, Iran had re-entered negotiations despite being aware of what it called US and Israeli intentions, in order to demonstrate the legitimacy of its position to the international community and to remove any pretext for what it termed unlawful aggression.
The embassy said the airstrikes violated Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter and amounted to an act of armed aggression, adding that Iran was entitled under Article 51 to exercise its right to self-defence. Iran’s Armed Forces, it said, would deploy all necessary capabilities to repel what it called the enemy’s hostile actions.
Iran called on the UN Secretary-General, the President of the Security Council, and all Council members to act without delay. It also urged all UN member states — particularly regional and Islamic countries and members of the Non-Aligned Movement — to condemn the strikes and take collective measures in response, warning that the action had placed regional and global peace and security under what it described as an unprecedented threat.
The statement closed with a warning that the Iranian people had never submitted to foreign domination and that the response of the Iranian nation would cause, in the embassy’s words, “the aggressors to regret their criminal actions.”
The statement’s publication coincided with a drone strike on the UK’s military base in Akrotiri, Limassol that President Christodoulides confirmed involved a Shahed-type unmanned aerial vehicle, which caused minor damage to the base. Cyprus’s government said the drone had been launched from Lebanon, with Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, believed responsible.
Two further drones were intercepted by British warplanes scrambled from Akrotiri the same day. Paphos International Airport was evacuated after a suspect object was detected on radar.
The attack placed Cyprus — which is not a party to the conflict — at the centre of a widening regional crisis. Christodoulides said the island was “not involved in any way and does not intend to be part of any military operation.”
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