# Akrotiri Village Evacuation

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Akrotiri Village Evacuation," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/akrotiri-village-evacuation/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*Kiriakou says the drone that hit Britain's Akrotiri base in Cyprus was likely an Israeli operation, staged and then falsely blamed on Iran.*

The Cypriot village of Akrotiri was evacuated due to British base operations, forcing residents to leave their homes and find refuge elsewhere.[1]

## A 2026 drone strike on the base

[John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) says a drone that hit the UK's Akrotiri base in Cyprus was likely an Israeli operation, staged to increase American, British, Cypriot, and Greek interest in the region, and initially, falsely, blamed on Iran: *"I make that the Israelis decided we need to get the Americans, the British, the Cypriots, the Greeks more interested. We're going to send a drone… and then we're going to blame it on the Iranians."*[2]

## The day before the war

Akrotiri appears once more in Kiriakou's account, as an indicator rather than a place. On the first morning of the 2026 Iran war he described a conversation from the previous day with a friend in Cyprus, who told him that something was going on at the British air base there.

He noted the secrecy of the arrangement, the British *"don't release any information, of course,"* and in a hundred years *"have never ceded any control to the to the Cypriots"*, but the friend was certain something had changed.[3][4]

His answer, by his own account, needed no analysis: *"I said, 'Oh, I can tell you what's going on. We're getting ready to bomb Iran.' And there it is."*[4]

## Sources

1. JOHN KIRIAKOU: What’s Really Happening in the Iran War (2026-03-11), at 02:36:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1FZXQzLGOU&t=9360s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-11-unfiltered-with-s-a-m-john-kiriakou-what-s-really-happening-in-the-ir/
2. Future of War: AI, Drones & the Cyprus Conflict (2026-05-31), at 1:32:08. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjuGkLG7ByY&t=5528s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-31-lazaros-sideras/
3. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2026-02-28), at 1:00:47. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryefwYfcDVY&t=3647s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-28-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
4. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2026-02-28), at 1:01:19. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryefwYfcDVY&t=3679s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-28-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/akrotiri-village-evacuation/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt