Spain deploys its most advanced frigate to protect Cyprus as anger grows over Starmer's response to Iran war
Cyprus, Bahrain and the UAE have all hit out at Sir Keir Starmer's response to the Iran war
Spain is sending its most advanced warship to Cyprus to protect it from Iranian drone and missile attacks.
Listen to this article
Spain’s Cristobal Colon will join the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and Greek navy ships to “offer protection and aerial defence” and “support any evacuation of civilians,” the Spanish defence ministry said in a statement.
The warship is 481ft long and weighs 6,390 tonnes. It is highly capable of destroying drones and has 64 RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles capable of intercepting cruise missiles.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer is facing accusations of ‘dithering’ over the UK’s response.
As the situation in the Middle East remains volatile, we are deploying our Type-45 Destroyer, HMS Dragon, to the Eastern Mediterranean.
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) March 3, 2026
We are also sending two Wildcat helicopters to Cyprus to bolster drone defence for our Cypriot partners.
Working alongside our allies, our… pic.twitter.com/cWerOOVEsu
Britain will send HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer, to the region. However, the ship is not expected to leave this week and will take several days more to arrive.
The Spanish warship is expected to arrive on Tuesday.
Britain's response to the Iran war has been slammed as "weak" by allies across the Middle East, as nations criticise Sir Keir Starmer for failing to do enough to protect the region from Iranian missiles.
Britain maintains sovereignty over two bases - Akrotiri and Dhekelia - as part of the 1960 treaty which established Cypriot independence from the UK. The bases cover “roughly three per cent of the island” and are among the 14 surviving British Overseas Territories, such as Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands.
General Sir Richard Barrons said the slowness to respond to defend RAF Akrotiri would leave allies to “wonder if the UK actually has the muscle to apply in situations like this in the way that in former times we clearly did.”
General Barrons said that the UK’s slow response “has diminished the relationship between the US administration and the UK because we have not turned up when they asked in the way that they asked.”
“'In the eyes of the region, however, the Gulf States, there is a sense that the UK has been slow to respond and also doesn't have much to respond with,” he added.
On Wednesday, the Government admitted it would be weeks before the HMS Dragon warship would be able to reach missile-hit Cyprus.
British F-35s and Typhoon aircraft are conducting defensive missions in Cyprus. But HMS Dragon will not set sail for Cyprus until next week after being hurried out of maintenance and fitted with the correct weapons in Portsmouth.
In response, the island's High Commissioner said that his nation expects the UK to provide defence for the nation, which is home to two crucial RAF bases.
Dr Kyriacos P. Kouros, the Cypriot High Commissioner to the UK, told the Times: “The French are coming. The least we expect is the Britons to also be present since, as I said, we are not only defending Cypriots on the islands.”
In an earlier interview with LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, Dr Kouros pointed to the fact that five per cent of the population of Cyprus is British expats scattered across the island.
He told Nick: "About five per cent of the population of Cyprus are British expats who are living scattered all around the island.
"So when we talk about engagement with the British government, we mean that they have to help us safeguard the lives of everybody on the island."
One western official told The Times the proposal to send HMS Dragon to the Mediterranean did reach the Chief of Defence Staff until 9.30am on Tuesday — four days after the war started and two days following the attack on RAF Akrotiri.
After the delay was confirmed, a former Royal Navy captain warned LBC that the timescale risked a "major loss of life" among the British armed forces on the island.
Bahrain and the UAE reportedly also have ‘concerns’ over how the UK has responded to the conflict in the Middle East.
Border security minister Alex Norris rejected claims the UK is ‘embarrassing itself’ by taking so long to deploy defensive assets to the Iran conflict.
He told LBC efforts are being stepped up to send HMS Dragon to the Mediterranean.
Speaking to LBC yesterday, John Foreman, a naval expert who used to serve in the Gulf region, said the warship should have been deployed weeks ago but that the Ministry of Defence decided to try and "sit the war out".
He said: "The fact that we're now scrambling to send a destroyer to the eastern Mediterranean indicates we should have sent one two or three weeks ago in the anticipation of the war starting in Iran."
"It strikes me that the Ministry of Defence has been on the back foot."
The Times is reporting that Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, which have both been attacked by Iran in recent days, have also accused Sir Keir Starmer of not doing enough in relation to the war.
Gulf nations including the United Arab Emirates were angered by the delay in giving the US permission to use joint bases, including Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, to carry out ‘defensive’ strikes against Iranian missile sites.
Britain operates a naval support centre in Bahrain, which sits next to the site of a successful Iranian missile strike on the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet.
Defence secretary, John Healey, told reporters that the missile landed just 200 metres from British troops at the base.
Whereas the UAE has been subject to a missile onslaught, which has trapped thousands of British citizens in the Gulf.
“There was a feeling that the prime minister had to be dragged there,” a source familiar with the UAE’s concerns told The Times.
“It obviously reflects badly in the eyes of the Gulf Cooperation Council.”
Around 300,000 British nationals are said to reside in the UAE.
Despite the threats to British military assets and citizens, Sir Keir initially refused to allow the United States to use the bases in Cyprus or at Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands to launch defensive strikes against Iran.
After Starmer reversed the decision on Sunday evening, the decision was heavily criticised by US President Donald Trump, who hit out at Starmer by saying he is "not Winston Churchill" on Tuesday.