Nicosia, Cyprus. Iran’s embassy in Nicosia on 2 March condemned what it described as US and Israeli military aggression and warned that Tehran’s response would be “firm and decisive.” The statement coincided with a drone strike on the UK military base in Akrotiri, Limassol, according to Cypriot authorities.
Embassy statement on strikes and diplomatic context
The embassy said attacks in the early hours of 28 February, which it noted occurred on the eve of the Persian new year and the tenth day of Ramadan, targeted what it called defensive installations, infrastructure and civilian sites across several Iranian cities.
It said the strikes violated Iran’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty and took place while Iran and the United States were engaged in what it described as an active diplomatic process.
According to the statement, Iran had re-entered negotiations despite being aware of what it called US and Israeli intentions, in order to demonstrate the legitimacy of its position to the international community and remove any pretext for what it termed unlawful aggression.
References to UN Charter and calls for international action
The embassy said the airstrikes violated Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter and amounted to an act of armed aggression, adding that Iran was entitled under Article 51 to exercise its right to self-defence. It said Iran’s Armed Forces would deploy all necessary capabilities to repel what it called the enemy’s hostile actions.
Iran called on the UN Secretary-General, the President of the Security Council and all Council members to act without delay. It urged all UN member states, particularly regional and Islamic countries and members of the Non-Aligned Movement, to condemn the strikes and take collective measures in response, warning that the action had placed regional and global peace and security under what it described as an unprecedented threat.
The statement said the Iranian people had never submitted to foreign domination and warned that the response of the Iranian nation would cause, in the embassy’s words, “the aggressors to regret their criminal actions.”
Drone incident in Cyprus
The statement’s publication coincided with a drone strike on the UK’s military base in Akrotiri, Limassol, which President Christodoulides confirmed involved a Shahed-type unmanned aerial vehicle and caused minor damage to the base. Cyprus’s government said the drone had been launched from Lebanon, with Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, believed responsible.
Two further drones were intercepted by British warplanes scrambled from Akrotiri the same day. Paphos International Airport was evacuated after a suspect object was detected on radar.
Christodoulides said Cyprus, which is not a party to the conflict, was “not involved in any way and does not intend to be part of any military operation.”
What impact do you think these developments could have on Cyprus’s security situation?
