Echoes of the dodgy dossier as paper puts Cyprus in Iranian missile range

CYPRUS has again been mentioned as a possible target within range of Middle East missiles, as rhetoric over possible air strikes on Iran increases in the western media.

A report in Britain’s Daily Telegraph yesterday named RAF Akrotiri as being a possible target within range of the Iranian Shahab-3 rocket, which has a range of 1,250 miles.

The report was reminiscent of the “dodgy dossier” presented by the British government in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, which made three references to Iraqi missiles being able to hit British interests in Cyprus. Saddam could launch such missiles in as little as 45 minutes, according to the dossier, since widely debunked.

The Telegraph yesterday quoted a senior commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which has been declared a “terrorist group” by the US, as saying its Shahab-3 rocket had a range of 1,250 miles.

“Today the Americans are around our country but this does not mean that they are encircling us. They are encircled themselves and are within our range,” said General Mohammed Hassan Koussechi.

“If the United States is saying that they have identified 2,000 targets in Iran, then what is certain is that it is the Americans who are all around Iran and are equally our targets,” he told the official IRNA news agency.

General Koussechi added: “We have reached capacities that allow us to hit the enemy at a range of 2,000 kilometres.”

The British bases were reluctant to comment yesterday on the reports. “If the Telegraph is suggesting we could be a target, that is their opinion,” said a spokesman. “Iran has not made any threats against Britain.”

The spokesman said there were thousands of potential targets within range of the Shahab-3. “There are lots of ifs and buts,” said the spokesman. “It’s highly unlikely that Iran would target Akrotiri.”

Yesterday, acting President Demetris Christofias had a meeting with Alireza Bigdeli. After the meeting, Christofias praised relations between the two countries.

The Iranian ambassador said his country hoped that, as a member of the EU, Cyprus could act as an important bridge between Iran and the bloc.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.