A rogue Iranian drone heading towards Bahrain was shot down by one of the Royal Air Force’s Typhoon fighters, the British Secretary of State for Defence John Healey has revealed.
In a statement to the UK’s House of Commons, Mr Healey outlined the UK’s defence posture in the Middle East and its assistance to Gulf allies hit by Iranian attacks.
“In the last week, we’ve seen Iran lashing out with dangerous, indiscriminate and reckless strikes,” said Mr Healey in his speech.
“In the first day alone, they attacked 10 countries, hitting military and civilian targets … including hotels in Dubai and Bahrain and the Kuwaiti national airport.
“British troops stationed at a US base in Bahrain were within a few hundred yards of an Iranian strike.
“And a small drone hit our base in Cyprus … coming from Lebanon or Iraq.”
He added the Armed Forces were working round the clock to protect lives and British interests in the region.
The UK government’s approach throughout current developments in the Middle East is founded on three principles: defensive by prepositioning Typhoons, F-35s, counter drone teams, radars and defence in the region before the Israeli aggression, work closely with Nato allies and other partners, including the US, E5 nations and Gulf states, and have a legal basis for their decisions that allows military to operate with full confidence.
“Iran has now fired more than 500 ballistic and cruise missiles and around 2,000 drones,” he added. “Even after the Iranian President’s apology and promise to Gulf states over the weekend, Iran still then struck multiple countries with drones and missiles, including Bahrain where 32 civilians were injured in one attack and a desalination plant was hit in another.
“We totally condemn these attacks. They are putting hundreds of thousands of people at risk, including British nationals and members of our Armed Forces.”
Mr Healey added that Iranian regime had for decades been a source of evil, exporting violence across the Middle East and beyond.
“We want to see Iran stop their strikes, give up their nuclear ambitions and restart the negotiations,” he added.
He told members of the House that since January the UK had moved significant military assets to the region, ahead of the first US-Israeli strikes.
“Our F-35s have destroyed Iranian drones over Jordan,” he added. “Our Typhoons have shot down targets heading towards Qatar. Our counter-drone units have defeated further attacks against coalition bases in Iraq.”
He said the UK has also been conducting defensive air sorties in support of the UAE. “Typhoons successfully took out two drones … one over Jordan and a second heading to Bahrain.
“The third Wildcat has arrived in Cyprus. We have now deployed additional RAF operations experts to more than five countries in the region, helping co-ordinate regional military and civilian airspace.
“British pilots have now racked up over 230 flying hours. We have eight jets in Qatar, including the joint British-Qatari squadron, who are flying in support of regional allies.”
On the issue of evacuations of British nationals, he added that three chartered flights had now taken off, with more to come this week.
“More than 170,000 people have registered their presence, which has allowed us to get them the information and the support that they need,” he said. “More than 37,000 British nationals have been evacuated since the start of the crisis response.”
Two people – a Bahraini and Bangladeshi – have been killed in the kingdom since the Iranian aggression started on February 28. Several residential buildings in Manama, Seef District, Juffair and Muharraq have been hit by drones, and more than 30 injured alone in Sitra alone including children. The US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Juffair has been hit several times so far.
sandy@gdnmedia.bh
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