New Delhi: The UK Ministry of Defence has stated that “Shahed-like drone” that targeted British Royal Air Force base of Akrotiri in Cyprus was not launched from Iran.Early on March 3, a Shahed drone evaded the UK Royal Air Force’s state-of-the-art radar installations at its base in Akrotiri. Typhoon fighters and six of the world’s preeminent warplane — the F-35 — were deployed to take out the drone, the Associated Press reported. Officials were quoted as having said that this ultimately did limited damage to an aircraft hangar near the base’s runway.This attack took place days after United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, in an extraordinary war which has now killed over 1,000 people in Iran.“Overnight, RAF Typhoon and F-35B jets continued defensive air operations across the Middle East with support from Voyager air-to-air refuelling in defence of British interests and allies,” the UK Ministry of Defence said in a social media post at 10.33 pm IST on March 4.“The Ministry of Defence can confirm that a Shahed-like drone which targeted RAF Akrotiri at midnight on 2nd March was not launched from Iran,” it said.The announcement leaves the door open for speculation that attack could have been launched from Lebanon, where Israel has been active with attacks.“In the last 24 hours, the UK has resupplied air defence systems to British and allied bases across the region – including UK-built air defence missiles,” it added.The UK added that Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters armed with Martlet missiles “capable of taking out aerial threats,” will arrive in Cyprus in the coming days.The attack signalled yet more expansion of the US-Israeli war on Iran. This is the first time a third country has mounted any type of attack on Cypriot soil since Turkey’s 1974 invasion that cleaved the island along ethnic lines.The UK government has insisted the drone strike on the British base was not an outcome of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s decision to allow the US to use is bases for its campaign against Iran, arguing that the UAV was launched before he made the announcement Sunday evening.