Sir Keir Starmer is deploying the Royal Navy warship HMS Dragon and a fleet of armed helicopters to Cyprus in a major escalation of Britain’s involvement in Donald Trump’s chaotic war on Iran.
The move comes after the UK military base at RAF Akrotiri was attacked by an Iranian drone, and follows similar defensive moves by the Greek navy.
But the prime minister found himself publicly ridiculed once again by the US president, who bemoaned Britain’s lack of support for his military plans, saying: “This is not Winston Churchill we’re dealing with.”
Meanwhile the government has announced plans for a charter flight from Oman to evacuate British nationals caught in the Gulf states, with foreign secretary Yvette Cooper saying 130,000 have already registered their presence in the region with the Foreign Office (FCDO).
Sir Keir said: “The UK is fully committed to the security of Cyprus and British military personnel based there. We’re continuing our defensive operations, and I’ve just spoken with the president of Cyprus to let him know that we are sending helicopters with counter-drone capabilities, and HMS Dragon is to be deployed to the region. We will always act in the interest of the UK and our allies.”
The deployment of the Type 45 air defence destroyer is the latest sign of the UK being sucked into a conflict that began when the US and Israel launched a barrage of missile attacks on Iran on Saturday, killing much of the country’s leadership, including the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and taking out key military assets.
Sir Keir has resisted calls for Britain to join the attacks and initially blocked the US from using RAF bases to launch strikes. But over the weekend, he was forced to put RAF planes in the sky to defend British assets and regional allies, and later allowed the US to use British bases for defensive measures.
The last time the UK deployed a Royal Navy vessel to a conflict that the country was not directly involved in was in 2023, when the Commonwealth state Guyana was threatened by Venezuela.
The decision to send HMS Dragon, which has cutting-edge technology capable of taking down drones, comes after criticism of a lack of air defence in the region, as the Iranian regime has threatened to unleash the “gates of hell” on the US and Israel, following their attacks on Tehran.
The US has also indicated that it plans to escalate the fighting further, threatening another wave of airstrikes on Iran, warning that the “hardest hits” are yet to come.
But Sir Keir faced intense criticism over his handling of the crisis, from opposition parties and President Trump, who again expressed his disappointment in the British prime minister.
Speaking at the White House about support from European nations for US action in Iran, the US president said Spain had been “terrible” but added: “I’m not happy with the UK either.”
Appearing to refer to the joint UK-US airbase Diego Garcia on the Chagos Islands, which Sir Keir eventually agreed the US could use to strike defensively to protect countries being targeted by Tehran, he added: “That island… It’s taken three, four days for us to work out where we can land there, it would have been much more convenient landing there as opposed to flying many extra hours, so we are very surprised.
“This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”
Earlier, Mr Trump told The Sun that he was “very sad” to see that his relationship with Sir Keir is “obviously not what it was”.
The prime minister has insisted that the special relationship between the UK and US remains strong and insisted to MPs on Monday: “I stand by my decision.”
HMS Dragon, which is based at Portsmouth, had been in dry dock for a refit but has previously served in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. Named in honour of the Welsh dragon, its last major operation was in May 2025 to take part in Nato’s Formidable Shield, the largest at-sea live-fire exercise in Europe.
The destroyer has a crew of 200, including sailors, technicians and weapons experts and is captained by Commander Iain Giffin. It carries two helicopters and has a range of guns, anti-ship and anti-air missiles, as well as electronic warfare equipment.
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge questioned why it had taken Sir Keir so long to decide to send a warship. He said: “It begs the question: why wasn’t she already there?”
Conservative MP Gavin Williamson, a former defence secretary, posted on X: “Why wasn’t this done in January? It was obvious that it would be required when this all started to escalate. This is very, very poor planning.”
But Ms Cooper said the government had already added to the air defences in Cyprus.
“We have already increased the deployment, with additional defensive capabilities, including radar, F-35 jets, air defence, and counter-drone systems,” she said.
France also plans to send air defence systems to Cyprus and could dispatch a frigate, as well as anti-missile and anti-drone systems to the country, the semi-official Cyprus News Agency has reported.
