An RAF KC2 Voyager tanker was reported airborne from Akrotiri, the British base in Cyprus, as Iran fired missiles at Israeli targets and Iraq closed its airspace, in a new escalation that put U.S.-backed truce efforts under pressure.
The RAF tanker, identified as ZZ338, had taken off from Akrotiri and was holding over the eastern Mediterranean about an hour later. The aircraft was airborne as Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel and Iraq shut its airspace.
WATCH | A RAF KC2 Voyager tanker (ZZ338) is up out of Akrotiri, the British base on Cyprus, holding over the eastern Med after launching about an hour ago.
It’s airborne right as Iran fires ballistic missiles at Israel and Iraq shuts its airspace.
The straightforward read is… pic.twitter.com/ViGUYZfZd0— GeoInsider (@InsiderGeo) June 7, 2026
Iraq temporarily closed its airspace and suspended air navigation for air traffic safety reasons following the launch of Iranian rockets, civil aviation officials told Reuters on Sunday. The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority said Iraqi airspace would remain closed for 72 hours.
Israel struck the outskirts of Beirut on Sunday for the first time since the United States announced a truce plan for Lebanon last week, and Iran later fired missiles at Israeli targets, putting talks to end the wider war under renewed strain.
Iran has said any peace deal with the United States would depend on a ceasefire also holding in Lebanon, which Israel invaded in March while pursuing Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters who had fired across the border in solidarity with Tehran.
Israeli military officials said late on Sunday that missiles had been launched from Iran and that Israeli defence systems had intercepted them. Details on possible damage in Israel were not immediately available.
Axios reported that U.S. President Donald Trump, who was spending Saturday at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, had been briefed on the escalation between Iran and Israel. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Iran’s chief peace negotiator, parliamentary speaker Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, said U.S. bases and Israeli assets were legitimate targets because of hostile acts, including the “violation of agreements over Lebanon”.
“They showed that they only understand the language of power,” he wrote on X.
Ebrahim Rezaei, a hardline lawmaker and spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, said on X that Iran would deliver a “decisive and painful response” to Sunday’s Israeli strikes on Lebanon.
An Israeli official told Reuters that Israel would retaliate against any attacks on its territory from Iran and would consider such attacks “an opportunity to renew the campaign”.
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