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The defence secretary has revealed that two missiles from Iran were fired in the direction of Cyprus, where UK military bases are.
“We are pretty sure they weren’t targeted at our bases,” said John Healey.
But he added that “it shows how indiscriminate” the Iranian retaliation is.
He also noted that 300 UK military personnel were close to the targets in Bahrain.
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Defence secretary John Healey speaking on Sky News (Sky News)
“Some of them were in several hundred yards of the missile strikes,” he revealed.
The defence secretary was on the morning round of broadcasts a day after Sir Keir Starmer revealed that the UK had ordered “planes in the sky” over the Middle East on defensive operations.
Mr Healey repeated the prime minister’s calls to end its missile strikes and “steps back from its increasing uncontrolled indiscriminate attacks in the region” and “gives up its weapons programs.”
It came as the US and Israel launched waves of missile strikes on Iran in preemptive actions taking out military infrastructure and the country’s leadership including the Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sky News, Mr Healey added: “Few people will mourn the Ayatollah’s death.”
He is now more concerned about the repercussions of the attacks on Iran in the wider region.
He noted the 20 terror plots on the UK’s streets organised by Iran, the death of tens of thousands of its own citizens and the supply of 50,000 drones to Russia to attack Ukraine.
“Make no mistake that this is a regime which harasses other countries and can never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.”
Mr Healey declined to comment on whether the US-Israeli strikes on Iran were legal.
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Blasts in Bahrain (REUTERS)
He told Sky News: “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, is developing a nuclear weapons program, can be under any doubt about the character of this regime, and the threat it poses.”
Asked again whether the US action was legal, he said: “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.
“I can speak for the very active participation that we have in coordinated defence across the region.”
He noted that “everything the UK does is within international law”.
But Mr Healey also declined to say whether the UK may be drawn into joining the US and Israel in direct operations on Iran.
Describing UK operations, Mr Healey said: “When our UK planes fly from Qatar, they are protecting against any missiles or drones directed towards Qatar.
“When they fly from Cyprus, they’re doing the same for Cyprus.
“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.
“So when I talk about Britain playing a role in reinforcing regional stability as part of co-ordinated regional defensive operations, that’s what I mean.”
