Key facts
- Rashad Sultanov, a British-Azerbaijani national, was arrested in Cyprus on July 17.
- He is suspected of spying on the British airbase RAF Akrotiri for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
- The arrest marks Britain's first overseas investigation under the National Security Act.
- Sultanov allegedly conducted surveillance and shared information with the IRGC.
- Cypriot authorities are holding Sultanov pending extradition proceedings.
A British-Azerbaijani man, identified as 44-year-old Rashad Sultanov from north London, has been arrested in Cyprus on suspicion of spying on a British airbase for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Cypriot authorities apprehended Sultanov on July 17 and he remains in custody as extradition proceedings are ongoing, according to a statement from the Metropolitan police.
The arrest is part of the UK's first overseas investigation conducted under the National Security Act. Counter-terrorism police are investigating alleged incidents of hostile surveillance targeting Britain's RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus between May 11 and June 22 of last year. Sultanov is accused of conducting this surveillance and subsequently sharing the gathered information with the IRGC.
Helen Flanagan, head of counter-terrorism policing in London, highlighted the case as an example of the National Security Act's extraterritorial reach when British military bases are targeted by hostile state actors. This development follows recent threats from the IRGC against British military bases and a drone strike that caused minor damage to Akrotiri in March. Iran was also reported to have fired ballistic missiles at a US-UK base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean earlier this year, though the targets were missed.