The United States’ military “is not using Cyprus”, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said.
Fielding a question in his country’s parliament from opposition party Liberal Democrat MP Al Pinkerton regarding Iranian revolutionary guard corps general Sardar Jabbari’s threats to fire missiles at Cyprus, he moved to stress that reports of a US military presence on the island are, as far as he is concerned, not true.
“I will be absolutely clear again, because it really matters, that the US is not using Cyprus. It is our base. I will not go into operational details, but as [Pinkerton] would expect, we are taking all necessary measures to ensure that Cyprus and the base are safe,” he said.
His comments were echoed by Cypriot government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis on Tuesday, who said that British government officials, both publicly and in direct conversations with their Cypriot counterparts, have ruled out American use of the British bases in Cyprus.
Those officials, he said, “have made it clear that in any discussions which are taking place, in any planning which is being done in relation to the United States, the bases located in … Cyprus are not included”.
“This is something which we had said from the very beginning, which we considered would be useful, beneficial and necessary to include with the same clarity in the initial … statements made by [Starmer],” he said, in reference to Starmer’s announcement on Sunday that other UK bases would be used by US forces in the conflict.
Starmer sought to clarify his statements in the British parliament on Monday evening, saying in the House of Commons that “it is important for me to say that our bases in Cyprus are not being used by US bombers”.
He also stressed that the drone which hit the base shortly after midnight on Monday 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.
