UK military planes are defending Cyprus and Qatar from Iranian missiles and drones, Defence Secretary John Healey revealed on Sunday, as he confirmed Iran fired two missiles towards the direction of Cyprus.
“When our UK planes fly from Qatar, they are protecting against any missiles or drones directed towards Qatar,” Healey told Sky News. “When they fly from Cyprus, they’re doing the same for Cyprus.”
He added: “But of course, when our planes are in the air and they see things, missiles or drones directed towards other countries, they’ll take them down.”
The defence secretary confirmed Iran fired two missiles in the direction of Cyprus during Saturday’s retaliatory strikes. “We are pretty sure they weren’t targeted at our bases,” he said, adding that the missiles show “how indiscriminate” the Iranian retaliation is.
Healey revealed that 300 UK military personnel were close to targets in Bahrain. “Some of them were in several hundred yards of the missile strikes,” he said.
The Iranian strikes came after the US and Israel launched waves of missile attacks on Iran in preemptive operations targeting military infrastructure and the country’s leadership, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
“Few people will mourn the Ayatollah’s death,” Healey said, though he stressed his greater concern was the repercussions of the attacks on Iran in the wider region.
The defence secretary appeared on the morning broadcast round a day after Prime Minister Keir Starmer revealed the UK had ordered “planes in the sky” over the Middle East on defensive operations.
Healey declined to comment on whether the US-Israeli strikes on Iran were legal. “That is for the US to set out and explain. It’s not for me, as defence secretary of the UK, I’m here to speak for the UK,” he told Sky News.
He confirmed that “everything the UK does is within international law” but declined to say whether the UK may be drawn into joining the US and Israel in direct operations on Iran.
Cyprus government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis had said on Saturday that reports of missiles fired towards Cyprus were not true and there was no threat to the country.
From the shores of Limassol, observers in Cyprus could see Iranian retaliatory missiles in the distance.
— Genocide-Free Cyprus (@genocidefree_cy) February 28, 2026
Just as last year, this is a reminder of how near 'Israel’s' campaign of terror is to our island, and how we cannot afford to look away and pretend it will never reach us. pic.twitter.com/EgiFftX5xn
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