UK troops and civilians in Middle East put at risk by Iran strikes, Healey says

British troops and civilians in the Middle East are being put at risk from “indiscriminate attacks” by Iran, the defence secretary has said, adding that protecting them is his priority.

John Healey told the BBC “no-one will mourn” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed during US and Israeli air strikes on Iran.

The UK did not participate in the strikes and the defence secretary said it was for the US to set out the legal basis for its actions.

He said since the strikes had begun, British military personnel in Bahrain had been “within several hundred yards” of a retaliatory missile and drone strike on Saturday, while two missiles had been fired in the direction of Cyprus.

Healey was asked repeatedly on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg if the UK backed the US-Israeli strikes on Iran or thought they were legal.

He said while the UK had not taken part in the strikes “we share, however, the primary aim of all allies in the region and the US that Iran should never have a nuclear weapon.”

He would not be drawn on whether UK would be involved in further strikes but said it was attempting to prevent further regional escalation. He also said the UK was reviewing its terror threat level.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has already confirmed British planes are patrolling in the Middle East as part of a defensive operation to “protect our people, our interests and our allies.”

Since Saturday, Iran has launched waves of missile and drone attacks against targets across Israel, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq.

Healey told the BBC: “In that Bahrain military base that was hit by missiles and drones yesterday, we had 300 British personnel, some within several hundred yards of the strike.”

He said two ballistic missiles were separately fired towards Cyprus although he was “pretty sure” it was not being targeted.

The minister said these attacks demonstrated how British military personnel and civilians were “at risk with a regime that is increasingly indiscriminate, widespread and uncontrolled in the attacks it is mounting”.

A government of Cyprus spokesman later said Sir Keir “clearly confirmed that Cyprus was not a target” during a telephone call with the country’s president Nikos Christodoulides.

RAF F-35 jets and Typhoons based in Cyprus, along with a squadron of Typhoons based in Qatar, are flying over the region and on Saturday, a British unit based in Iraq intercepted an Iranian drone that had been heading towards a coalition base housing UK military personnel.

On the UK ‘s response to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel told the BBC she found it “absolutely astonishing” Sir Keir had not been more proactive in its support.

She said the moral basis for the attacks on Iran was “absolutely right” and the UK should ensure there were no threats to British citizens.

Dame Priti offered to help fast track any legislation to take action against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage wrote on X the UK should follow the European Union in designating the IRGC a terrorist organisation.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski told the BBC he believed an “illegal and unprovoked attack” had taken place against Iran and questioned why UK ministers would not condemn it.

“I’m worried the UK is going to be pulled into another illegal war,” he said.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said Sir Keir should speak to Trump and ask the president to outline a “serious plan to protect civilians and support a transition to democracy” in Iran.

The Foreign Office has advised against “all but essential travel” to Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. It said British nationals already there should shelter in place and register their presence with the department.

The advice comes as airlines continue to cancel and divert flights serving the region.

A Downing Street spokesperson said Sir Keir expressed the UK’s “solidarity in the face of dangerous Iranian escalation” and discussed the safety of civilians during calls with the King of Bahrain, the Crown Prince of Kuwait and the King of Jordan on Sunday.