An incident involving a suspicious airborne object detected on Wednesday morning in airspace near Lebanon has been concluded, Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said, after Greek fighter jets scrambled in a reconnaissance mission carried out from Cyprus.

In a post on Χ, Letymbiotis said that “the incident for which there was relevant information has been investigated and is considered to be over,” adding that competent authorities continue to monitor the situation and that all necessary measures are being taken in line with established procedures. He also assured that official updates would continue as needed.

Earlier in the morning, a pair of Greek F-16 fighter jets took off from the Andreas Papandreou Air Base in Paphos after a potentially suspicious object was detected in airspace near Lebanon, reportedly heading in the direction of Cyprus.

According to competent sources, the aircraft conducted reconnaissance and response operations amid heightened alert before safely returning to base upon completion of their mission.

Authorities stressed that all relevant government protocols were activated, even at the level of suspicion of a potential threat.

At around 9:30 a.m., a security alert was also triggered at the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia. Embassy staff were directed to a secure underground area as a precaution, and established safety protocols were implemented. The alert was lifted shortly before 10:00 a.m., and personnel returned to their duties.

Precautionary measures were similarly applied at a nearby English-speaking kindergarten attended by children of embassy employees, where the children were temporarily moved to a shelter area.

Hermes Airports confirmed that Cyprus’ airspace remained open throughout the incident. Letymbiotis clarified in a separate post that the airspace of the Republic of Cyprus “was never closed.” As part of standard procedures, two flights were briefly asked to hold to ensure operational space. One pilot chose to return to Athens, while the second flight landed normally shortly afterwards. Air traffic has since continued as usual.

The Cabinet meeting scheduled for 9:30 a.m. was postponed to 4:00 p.m., while the National Security Council convened at noon to assess the situation.

In the early hours of March 2 a Shahed-type drone struck military facilities in the British Bases, hosted in Akrotiri, in the southern tip of Cyprus, causing minor damage, amid regional turmoil following the US-Israeli attacks on Iran. The attack by the Shahed-type unmanned aerial vehicle, believed to be linked to Hezbollah operating in Lebanon, prompted heightened security measures, while several countries, including Greece, France and the UK said they were deploying warships, fighter jets and other military assistance to shield Cyprus. Nicosia reiterates that it has no involvement in the wider Middle East conflict.