British man arrested in Cyprus for spying on UK base

A British man has been arrested in Cyprus on suspicion of conducting espionage against a United Kingdom military base on behalf of Iran, authorities announced on July 31, 2026. Rashad Sultanov, a 44-year-old dual U.K.-Azerbaijani national from Islington, London, was taken into custody by Cypriot police on July 17 and is awaiting extradition to the United Kingdom.

Sultanov is accused of carrying out hostile surveillance of RAF Akrotiri, a key British airbase on the southern coast of Cyprus, and sharing gathered information with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). British prosecutors have authorized charges against him under the National Security Act, marking the first use of the 2023 security law for an alleged offense in an overseas territory.

The arrest followed an investigation led by London's Counter Terrorism Policing unit into incidents at the airbase between May 11, 2025, and June 22, 2025. Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, stated that the case demonstrates the ability to apply the National Security Act overseas when British military bases are allegedly targeted by hostile state activity. She credited extensive partnership...