Italy, Spain, France and the Netherlands will send naval assets to protect Cyprus in the coming days, Rome’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto told parliament on Thursday.
A British Royal Air Force base on the island was attacked on Monday by an Iranian-made unmanned drone as part of the US and Israeli air war against Tehran.
The French military also said it would allow US aircraft into some of its bases in the Middle East during the conflict, adding that they “contribute to the protection of our partners in the Gulf.”
Read moreLive: France will allow US planes to access some of its bases in the Middle East
Spain will send its most advanced frigate to protect Cyprus after a drone attack on a British base on the Mediterranean island dragged it into the Middle East war, the Spanish Defense Ministry said.
Spain has come under intense American pressure for refusing to allow Washington to use its bases.
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The Christopher Columbus will join the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and Greek navy ships to provide protection and help evacuate civilians, the ministry said. Italy also said it would send “naval assets” to the EU member state in the coming days and air defense assistance to Gulf countries affected by the Iranian attacks.
In an interview with RTL 102.5 radio, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said: “We are clearly talking about defense, air defense, not only because they are friendly nations but because there are tens of thousands of Italians in that area and around 2,000 Italian soldiers that we must protect.”
British Defense Minister John Healey arrived in Cyprus on Thursday, a defense source said.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday that the UK was sending “helicopters with counter-strike capabilities” and a warship, the HMS Dragon, to Cyprus as Britain continued “defensive operations” in the region.
HMS Dragon is one of six Type 45 air defense destroyers of the Royal Navy.
It is equipped with a Sea Viper missile system capable of launching eight missiles in less than 10 seconds and guiding up to 16 missiles simultaneously, the British Ministry of Defense said.
The helicopters are Wildcat helicopters equipped with Martlet missiles that can shoot down drones.
Read moreBritish base in Cyprus hit by drone as fallout from war with Iran spreads beyond Middle East
On Wednesday, Cyprus’ High Commissioner to the UK, Dr Kyriacos Kouros, said Cypriots were “disappointed” by the level of information sharing with residents after RAF Akrotiri was attacked and more drones were intercepted.
“Let’s say people are disappointed, scared, they might expect more,” he told the BBC’s Newsnight programme.
Starmer initially refused to play any role in the US-Israel war with Iran, but later agreed to a US request to use two British military bases for a “specific and limited defensive purpose”.
Those bases are in Gloucestershire, in western England, and the British-American Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean.
Starmer insisted that the Akrotiri base is not being used by American bombers.
Monday’s drone strike caused minimal damage and no casualties, British officials said.
Families of service personnel have been kept away from the base as a precaution.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
