Britain says it’s not at war after a drone strikes its Akrotiri base in Cyprus

By JILL LAWLESS and MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS

AKROTIRI, Cyprus (AP) — Britain is not at war, the government said Monday, despite saying it would allow the U.S. to use British bases during its war with Iran and after a Royal Air Force base in Cyprus was struck by an Iranian-made drone.

Sirens sounded again at RAF Akrotiri on Monday and British Typhoon and F-35 warplanes were scrambled. Cyprus government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis posted on X that two drones heading toward the British base had been intercepted.

More than two decades after Britain followed the United States into a devastating war in Iraq, it is trying to avoid being drawn into a new Middle East conflict with unpredictable consequences.

Akrotiri attacked

U.K. officials say an attack drone hit the runway at RAF Akrotiri, a British air force base in Cyprus, late Sunday. There were no injuries and “minimal” damage, but the strike brought the conflict onto European soil.

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides identified it as a “Shahed-typ...