Cyprus president says his nation wasn’t involved in any military action

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides says the east Mediterranean island nation “wasn't in anyway involved” in any military action to thwart Iran's unprecedented drone and missile attack against Israel.

Christodoulides told reporters Sunday that aircraft had arrived in Cyprus “from neighbouring countries” late Saturday. He said they would depart Sunday.

Asked if the UK had informed the Cypriot government ahead of time that any of its warplanes from a British air base on the island would be involved in intercepting the Iranian attack, Christodoulides said there was no forewarning.

The UK's two military bases on Cyprus — including the larger air base RAF Akrotiri —- are British sovereign territory and don't require the Cypriot government's permission to launch any military action. But normally, the UK does brief the Cypriot government of any impending action as a courtesy.

The Cypriot president said his foreign minister spoke with his British counterpart only after the fact.

He added that he's hoping there's no further escalation because his government doesn't believe that “any problems are solved through such aggressive acts”.