More British fighter jets and other aircraft “will follow in [the] coming days” to the region, the United Kingdom’s Defence Secretary John Healey said on Tuesday night.
Addressing a defence think tank in London, he said that the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel is “a dangerous moment for the entire region”.
“We have always supported Israel’s right to security, and we have had grave concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme, and I repeat the call on all sides to show restraint,” he said, adding that “a diplomatic resolution rather than military action is the only route to lasting stability”.
He then pointed out that “the military assets including the additional Typhoon jets announced by the prime minister [Keir Starmer] have begun arriving”.
“The first wave has already arrived and the rest will follow in coming days,” he said, adding that he has “ensured that force protection is now at its highest level”.
“This operational response is to protect our personnel, it is to reassure our partners, and it is to reinforce the urgent need for de-escalation,” he said.
Starmer had on Sunday confirmed that the UK would increase its presence in the Middle East.
Publicly available flight data has shown heightened aeronautical activity from the Royal Air Force’s Akrotiri base in recent days, with flights in the southern Levantine Sea and over Jordanian airspace having been recorded by publicly available radar systems.
On Monday, a British bases spokesman was unable to confirm or deny to the Cyprus Mail whether the aircraft have been stationed in Cyprus or elsewhere in the region, and the while the Cyprus Mail attempted to contact the British defence ministry, it has not received a response.
In addition to its two sovereign base areas in Akrotiri and Dhekelia, the UK also has access to the Al Minhad airbase in the United Arab Emirates and the Al Udeid airbase in Qatar.
Later that same day, the UK’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy had said the country’s bases in Cyprus are “hugely important at this time”.
Addressing his country’s parliament, he stressed that the UK is “not involved in Israel’s strikes”, but highlighted the UK’s role in fighting against terrorist insurgencies such as the Islamic State, and added that the UK has “important relationships in the Gulf and the wider region”.
“That is why [Healey] has, as a precautionary step, sent further military aid to the area,” he said.
Then asked by Green party co-leader Adrian Ramsay to clarify the purpose behind the UK sending further Royal Air Force jets to the region, he said the decision was a “precautionary measure”.
“The government would be irresponsible if we did not account for all possibilities at this time,” he added.
He then went on to say that “this is a very tense time if you are in Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, or Cyprus”.
It is for this reason, he said, that “it is hugely important that the UK meets its obligation, and that is why [Healey] made the decision he did to deploy certain assets to the region”.
Starmer had announced the aircraft’s deployment while en route to the Group of Seven meeting in Canada.
Meanwhile, when asked if the UK would come to Israel’s aid if asked to do so, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said that “we have, in the past, supported Israel when there have been missiles coming in.
“We’re sending in assets to both protect ourselves and also potentially to support our allies”.
The UK’s decision to bolster its presence in the region comes after Iran had warned it, the United States, and France that their bases and ships in the region will be targeted if they help to stop its missile strikes on Israel.
News agency Reuters cited Iranian state media as the source of the reports, which were widely picked up by media across the world, though the UK categorically denied any involvement in Israel’s strikes on Iran or its defence from Iranian retaliatory fire.
“Let me say clearly and unequivocally that Russia’s claims that the British sovereign bases on the island of Cyprus were in any way involved is nonsense. It is deeply irresponsible at moments like this for Russia to be spreading disinformation,” the UK’s permanent representative to the United Nations Barbara Woodward said on Saturday.
Last year, Cyprus was the likely launchpad for the military support offered by the United Kingdom to defend Israel from a volley of Iranian missiles launched at the start of October.
The British defence ministry had at the time announced that two RAF Typhoon fighter jets and one Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker “played their part in attempts to prevent further escalation in the Middle East”.
This, they said, demonstrated “the UK’s unwavering commitment to Israel’s security”.
This language largely echoed that of Healey, who was in Cyprus at the time. He had said earlier that British forces had “played their part in attempts to prevent further escalation”.
He had added that the UK “fully stands behind Israel’s right to defend its country and its people against threats”.
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