A British man has been arrested and accused of spying for the Iranian military, authorities said.
Rashad Sultanov, a 44, of Islington in north London, was arrested on July 17 in Cyprus and is being held pending extradition in the first investigation of its kind of the National Security Act in relation to alleged crimes in an overseas territory, the Metropolitan Police said in a July 31 announcement.
Sultanov was accused of conducting "hostile surveillance" at a UK military base in Cyprus between May 11 and June 22 of 2025, police said. He allegedly shared information with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the Metropolitan Police said.
The UK National Security Act of 2023 sought to modernize laws against espionage and make it harder for foreign
actors to spy or otherwise threaten national security, the government said upon its passage. Russia, China and Iran were all specifically named as potential threats to UK national security. The law for the first time codified an offense of foreign interference in things like elections and freedom of speech, the government said.
Sultanov, a dual UK and Azerbaijan citizen, allegedly operated at the the RAF Akrotiri base, which is used as a base of operations in the Middle East.
It wasn't immediately clear if he had a representative who could comment on his behalf.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: British man arrested, accused of spying on military base for Iran
