Donald Trump and Israel’s war with Iran widened well beyond the Middle East on Wednesday as Nato shot down a ballistic missile headed for Turkey and the US sank an Iranian frigate off Sri Lanka, killing dozens of sailors.
As Britain prepared to send a warship to defend Cyprus and repatriate thousands of stranded nationals in the Middle East, Iran rained missiles and drones on its neighbours while Washington prepared to expand its strikes – and boasted it has effectively sunk the Iranian navy.
Sir Keir Starmer said two more government-chartered flights will take off from Oman “in the coming days”, while British Airways announced it will operate two more flights between Muscat and Heathrow on Friday and Saturday.
Unlike aviation mega-hubs in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, Muscat is not covered by the Foreign Office travel warning; it can be reached by road from both Dubai and Abu Dhabi with journeys of about 300 miles.
However, there is not expected to be a widespread evacuation of the 138,000 British nationals who have registered their presence in the Middle East and experts believe it could take weeks to clear the backlog of passengers.
Meanwhile, the warship being readied to protect Britain’s base in Cyprus is not set to sail until next week. HMS Dragon is being loaded with ammunition in Portsmouth before departing for the Mediterranean after RAF Akrotiri was hit by a drone on Monday.
Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters armed with Martlet drone-busting missiles are being deployed ahead of the warship, whose voyage is expected to take several days.
In a bombastic briefing in Washington, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth warned that Operation Epic Fury has “only just begun” as he announced a US Navy submarine had destroyed the IRIS Dena, an Iranian frigate, off the Sri Lankan coast.
“An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death,” Mr Hegseth told a briefing. He added that the US is prepared to sustain a long war with Iran, as even more US bombers and fighters arriving in the region.
“This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight,” he said. “We are punching them while they’re down. Our air defences and that of our allies have plenty of runway. We can sustain this fight easily for as long as we need to.”
Sri Lankan authorities said up to 87 people were killed in the torpedo attack, as pictures emerged of survivors being taken to hospital.
Nato was separately forced to shoot down an Iranian ballistic missile headed for Turkey – the closest Tehran has come to a direct attack on a Nato country, which could drag Turkey and its allies into a collective response.
A Turkish official said the missile had been aimed at an unspecified military base in Cyprus but “veered off course.” The weapon had already passed over Iraq and Syria when it was shot down by Nato air and missile defence systems in the eastern Mediterranean.
Nato said it “stands firmly with all allies, including Turkey, as Iran continues its indiscriminate attacks across the region”. Turkey called for restraint to avoid further escalation.
