British Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy on Friday said that the United Kingdom could legally strike missile sites in Iran, after the British government confirmed that its base in Cyprus is being used to launch missions to shoot down drones in the Middle East.

“It is entirely legal to protect our people and protect our staff, and therefore, all operational capacity is available to us in those circumstances,” he told the BBC.

Pressed on the prospect of the UK directly striking Iran and whether such an act would be legal, he said that “I am not here to act as a lawyer, but I think your viewers will understand that in response to being attacked, yes, we can take down sites that are anticipating attacking our people across the region”.

During the same interview, he defended his government’s actions in advance of and in the aftermath of a drone strike on the British Akrotiri air force base in Cyprus, stressing that “we have got 400 people, additional staff, dealing with air defences, and that includes over Cyprus”.

“They would have heard the defence secretary [John Healey] was there yesterday. They know also that we have deployed Typhoons to the region, F-35s,” he said, with F-35 fighter jets having been deployed to Cyprus in advance of the conflict last month.

He added that the British government “will do everything we can to protect our airbase, to protect our staff and people, but also to support, alongside our allies, I should say, because Cyprus is part of Nato, the French, the Germans, and others have also sent frigates to the region to support those in Cyprus”.

Cyprus is not a member of Nato.

Later during his televised appearance, Lammy said that the UK’s bases in Cyprus are “essential”.

“It is not just a base that serves the United Kingdom, it serves the region, and of course, we work very close with our allies, because Cyprus is a Nato country,” he said.

Thus far, British direct involvement in the conflict has been limited to the shooting of drones fired from Iran, with the British military not having directly engaged Iran itself.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had confirmed on Thursday night that Cyprus had been used as the launchpad for missions aimed at engaging and shooting down drones fired from Iran.

The country’s defence ministry had announced on Tuesday that British F-35 fighter jets had flown over Jordan, shooting down drones fired from Iran, and that the night’s engagement had marked “the first time a [Royal Air Force] F-35 has shot down a target on operations”.

Starmer had also said on Thursday that “I want to be really clear to everybody in Cyprus that we’re taking every measure that is needed to protect them, to protect the airbase, along with the other places in the region”, after he had faced criticism following a drone strike on the Akrotiri base on Monday.

Following the drone strike on Monday, he then sought to clarify that British bases in Cyprus are “not being used by US bombers”, though he did stress that the drone had not been fired “in response to any decision that we have taken”.

Instead, he said, it is believed that the drone was fired before he had made his statements on Sunday, before landing after his statements concluded.

Later, when asked why the bases in Cyprus are not being used by US forces, he said they “are not suitable”.

“It is very important that this is made clear, because [Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides] and I have been discussing that,” he said