LONDON (AP) 鈥� A London man has been arrested in Cyprus on suspicion of spying on a U.K. air force base on the Mediterranean island on behalf of Iran, British police said Friday.
London鈥檚 Metropolitan Police force said 44-year-old Rashad Sultanov, a U.K.-Azerbaijani national, is alleged to have conducted 鈥渉ostile surveillance鈥� of and shared information with Iran鈥檚 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He was arrested July 17, and British police are seeking his extradition.
Police said Sultanov lives in London, and British media said he works as a taxi driver.
Akrotiri is the U.K.鈥檚 main air base for operations in the Middle East and in recent years has been used by British warplanes on missions against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq and to strike Houthi targets in Yemen. It was struck by an Iranian-made drone in March, early in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
British prosecutors have authorized charges under the National Security Act. The arrest followed an investigation led by counterterror detectives into incidents at RAF Akrotiri in May and June 2025.
鈥淭his case shows we are able to use the National Security Act overseas when British military bases are allegedly targeted by hostile state activity,鈥� said Commander Helen Flanagan of London鈥檚 counterterror policing unit.
Earlier this month, Iran鈥檚 powerful paramilitary which it said is a threat to national security.
Law enforcement officials and intelligence experts say Iran-backed proxy groups are behind a growing number of attacks in Europe, most targeting the Jewish community and opponents of Iran鈥檚 Islamic government.
Britain retained Akrotiri, and another base on Cyprus, after the eastern Mediterranean island gained independence from British colonial rule in 1960.
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