Greece is moving a Patriot missile battery from the island of Karpathos to the Souda naval base on Crete to bolster air defences, the Greek daily Kathimerini reports.
– The move comes about 24 hours after senior Iranian officials threatened possible strikes on US bases on European soil, the paper said. Greece’s Defence Ministry and armed forces general staff have been on alert since last week, assessing the threat level and reviewing measures to protect critical infrastructure, according to the report.
– The battery, along with its equipment and personnel, departed Karpathos at dawn and was expected to be operational in the wider Souda area within hours, Kathimerini said. The system had been deployed to Karpathos in March as part of a broader plan to shield all sectors of Athens’s flight information region from potential ballistic missile attacks.
– The relocation reflects concerns in Athens over Iran’s remaining arsenal, which allies have assessed still includes a significant number of ballistic missiles capable of ranges beyond 2,000km (1,240 miles), potentially putting infrastructure in southeastern Europe within reach, the report said.
– Separately, Greece’s Defence Ministry is weighing whether to extend or end the deployment of a Greek Patriot unit stationed in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, since September 2021, with an early return to Greece seen as the more likely outcome, Kathimerini reported. The unit has intercepted ballistic missiles and drones fired by Iran and Yemen’s Houthis at energy facilities in western Saudi Arabia since the US war on Iran began.
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