Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos on Friday held a telephone conversation with the United Kingdom’s Minister of state for Europe Stephen Doughty to discuss ongoing developments in the region, amid the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel.

The foreign ministry said the pair had “agreed on the need to preserve security and stability.

The call comes amid heightened activity in and around the British Royal Air Force’s base in Akrotiri, with British and American aircraft having been active at the base in recent days amid the Middle East conflict.

However, Akrotiri’s recent prominence prompted pro-Palestinian activists in the UK to break into RAF Brize Norton in the UK and spray paint into the engines of two military aircraft in the early hours of Friday morning.

“Flights depart daily from [Brize Norton] to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. From Cyprus, British planes collect intelligence, refuel fighter jets, and transport weapons to commit genocide in Gaza,” the group said.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reacted with fury to the incident, writing in a post on social media that “the act of vandalism committed at RAF Brize Norton is disgraceful”.

“Our armed forces represent the very best of Britain and put their lives on the line for us every day. It is our responsibility to support those who defend us,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Thames Valley police, the police force responsible for the area in which Brize Norton is located, said that “inquiries are ongoing to locate and arrest those responsible”.

The Cyprus Mail contacted the UK’s defence ministry to enquire whether operations in Cyprus have been impacted by the incident, but did not receive a response.

The UK’s Defence Secretary John Healey had said earlier in the week following the first deployment of British aircraft to the region that more “will follow in [the] coming days”.

“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 have begun arriving”.

Earlier, the UK’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy had said the country’s bases in Cyprus are “hugely important at this time”.

“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”.

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”.

Iran had at the weekend warned the UK, 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.

Later, Iran’s ambassador in Nicosia Alireza Salarian said his country had “already raised this concern to the relevant authority” and added that “if we see any aggression from the third country, we have the right to response”.

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”.