The head of MI6, Blaise Metreweli — the first woman to lead British foreign intelligence — is due to travel to Cyprus on Friday to meet President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace.
MI6, which gathers intelligence abroad, is distinct from MI5, Britain’s domestic security agency.
The meeting, scheduled for 9am, comes days after an Iranian-made Shahed drone struck the runway at RAF Akrotiri in the early hours of 2 March, causing minor damage and no casualties. Cypriot and British officials said the drone was launched from Lebanon. Two further drones heading towards the base were subsequently intercepted by British forces.
Cyprus has since found itself at the centre of a widening regional crisis. The US and Israel launched military operations against Iran on February 28, after which Britain agreed to allow US forces access to its bases for defensive strikes against Iranian missile sites — though Prime Minister Keir Starmer insisted the Akrotiri base in Cyprus would not be used by Washington. Cyprus blamed Britain’s poor communication over the use of the base for drawing the island into the conflict, and has opened the door to negotiations over the future status of the sovereign base areas.
IRGC General Sardar Jabbari subsequently threatened to strike Cyprus directly, warning that Iran would launch missiles at the island with sufficient intensity to force American forces to leave.
In response, a multinational military build-up is under way in the Eastern Mediterranean. Britain is deploying the air-defence destroyer HMS Dragon and two Wildcat helicopters with counter-drone capabilities to Cyprus. Greece has sent four F-16 fighter jets, with two frigates on their way. France has dispatched the frigate Languedoc along with additional land-based anti-drone and anti-missile systems. The Netherlands is set to send the air-defence frigate HNLMS Evertsen (F805) to support the strike group of the French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, pending a parliamentary decision in The Hague.
British defence secretary John Healey visited Cyprus on Thursday, meeting Cypriot defence minister Vasilis Palmas to discuss the security situation in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean and agreeing to strengthen cooperation on crisis management. Healey said Britain was further reinforcing air defences in Cyprus in the face of Iranian threats.
Earlier on Thursday, a security alert was issued to residents of Akrotiri after authorities received a tip-off about a suspected object heading towards the British Bases. The all-clear was given after Cypriot government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis confirmed the object’s final trajectory was not towards the Bases and that there was no incident.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on 3 March that the alliance would defend every inch of NATO territory if needed. The Netherlands has raised its travel advisory for Cyprus to yellow, with the Dutch embassy in Nicosia telling in-cyprus the advisory was updated on 2 March due to developments linked to Middle East military operations, including the cancellation of flights to and from Cyprus by a number of international airlines.
