Cyprus and Dubai have been targeted by Iran strikes (Image: Getty)
Britain’s defence secretary has confirmed that two missiles from Iran were fired in the direction of Cyprus this morning, where military bases are located. John Healey said “we are pretty sure they [Iran’s missiles] weren’t targeted at our bases”, but he added that “it shows how indiscriminate” the Iranian retaliation is.
With the threats heading towards Europe, the Express has analysed five holiday destinations loved by Brits that would be in range of Iran’s missiles. According to Missile Threat CSIS, which analyses ballistic and cruise missiles around the globe, Iran possesses the “largest and most diverse missile arsenal in the Middle East”. It said the country has thousands of ballistic and cruise missiles, some capable of striking as far as Israel and southeast Europe.
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Iran has launched counter strikes in the Middle East (Image: Getty)
The map shows the range of Iran’s missiles (Image: Missile Threat CSIS)
It is worth noting that historically, Iran has targeted the Middle East. However, according to the analysis site, Iran’s longest-range missile in operation, the Sejjil missile, has a range of 2,000 km. Its maps show this would reach Greece, Bulgaria and Egypt.
Greece, which is visited by more than 4 million Brits annually, has a military base located in Crete. Souda Bay is frequently visited by NATO warships when they deploy to the eastern Mediterranean, Black Sea or east of Suez.
Bulgaria, loved by Brits for its cheap beach holidays and winter skiing, is also within the 2,000km striking distance of Iran’s missiles.
The country has joint military facilities with the USA, established by a Defence Cooperation Agreement in April 2006. Under the agreement, US forces could train at these bases.
Bulgaria’s Ministry of Defence confirmed US Air Force presence on February 23 before the Iran strikes, describing the deployment as support for “training related to NATO’s enhanced vigilance activities,” with American personnel engaged solely in aircraft maintenance.
Egypt in north Africa, where Brits often escape for winter sun, is also within the 2,000km range. Reuters reported that the US operates a military site in Egypt, citing the Council on Foreign Relations, as part of a broad network of such sites in the Middle East.
Images captured the explosions from the interception of a missile (Image: Getty)
The shorter-range missiles, Qiam-1 with a range of 800km and the Shahab-3 with a range of 1,300km, would reach a favourite holiday destination of Turkey.
More than 4million Brits visited here in 2024. Some of America’s nuclear weapons are believed to be stationed in Turkey.
The country of Georgia is also becoming increasingly popular with Brits as more UK airlines offer cheap flights to its capital, Tbilisi. This country is in the closest range of Iran, within a 500km striking distance of the Fateh-313 and Shahab-2 missiles.
Historically, Iran has targeted the Middle East. In June 2017, Iran launched six missiles into eastern Syria, and in September 2018, Iran launched seven Fateh-110 missiles at Iraq.
In September 2019, Iran launched coordinated attacks with unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles against Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais.
In January 2020, Iran bombarded U.S. troops in Iraq for several hours with as many as 22 ballistic missiles in retribution for the U.S. killing of Qasem Soleimani.