Iranian missiles fired toward UK bases in Cyprus

UK Defence Secretary John Healey said two Iranian missiles were fired in the direction of Cyprus, where British military bases are located. Healey told Sky News the missiles were not believed to be specifically aimed at UK facilities. “We are pretty sure they weren't targeted at our bases,” he said. The remarks came amid Iran's retaliatory strikes following US and Israeli attacks.

Healey described Iran's response as “indiscriminate.” He noted 300 UK military personnel were positioned several hundred yards from missile strikes in Bahrain. “Some of them were several hundred yards from the missile strikes,” he revealed.

The defense secretary spoke a day after Prime Minister Keir Starmer said UK planes were flying defensive missions over the Middle East. Healey reiterated calls for Iran to halt its missile attacks and abandon its weapons programs.

Healey said few would mourn Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's death but expressed concern over wider regional fallout. “No one who has seen the way that Iran has menaced us and sponsored terror around the world, been a source of instability in the region, and is developing a nuclear weapons program can be under any doubt about the character of this regime and the threat it poses,” he told Sky News.

Healey declined to comment on the legality of US-Israeli strikes on Iran. “That is for the US to set out and explain. It's not for me; as defense secretary of the UK, I'm here to speak for the UK,” he said. He added that UK operations remain within international law.