The United Kingdom has not authorised the United States to carry out strike missions from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, as Iran fired two missiles towards the British sovereign base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
The BBC said it understood reports of the missile launches to be accurate, after speaking to separate sources who confirmed the account. The Wall Street Journal had first reported the incident, citing unnamed US officials. Neither missile reached the base.
The UK Ministry of Defence has neither confirmed nor denied that two Iranian missiles were fired towards the base. In a statement, it said Iran’s reckless attacks across the region are “a threat to British interests and British allies.”
London has authorised the US military to conduct what it describes as defensive bombing missions from Diego Garcia, though there are no reports that any such missions have yet been carried out from the base.
The US has, however, conducted bombing missions from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.
Cyprus’s RAF Akrotiri remains off-limits for US offensive operations.
(with information from The BBC)
