British Citizen Arrested in Cyprus Over Alleged Spying for Iran at RAF Base
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London (Terror Monitor) — A British citizen has been arrested in Cyprus on suspicion of spying for Iran by allegedly conducting surveillance on a British Royal Air Force (RAF) base and passing intelligence to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
According to reports received from London on Friday, the suspect is accused of aggressively monitoring RAF Akrotiri Air Base in Cyprus before allegedly transmitting the collected information to the IRGC.
The suspect has been identified as 44-year-old Rashid Sultanov, who holds dual British and Azerbaijani citizenship.
London's Metropolitan Police said Sultanov was detained by Cypriot authorities on July 17, and legal proceedings are underway to extradite him to the United Kingdom.
According to the German news agency DPA, the arrest followed a lengthy counterterrorism investigation led by the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) unit.
Investigators examined a series of incidents that took place at RAF Akrotiri between May 11 and June 22 of last year as part of the probe.
The Metropolitan Police said the arrest was made following evidence gathered under the UK's National Security Act.
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said British and Cypriot law enforcement agencies worked in close cooperation throughout the investigation, describing the joint effort as "continuous and exceptionally close."
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