🔶 Arrest of an Azerbaijani-British man in Cyprus on suspicion of spying for Iran

British police said they have detained a man in Cyprus over allegations of spying from the UK Royal Air Force base on the island for Iran.

Metropolitan Police in London described the accusation against 44-year-old Rashad Sultanov, who holds dual British and Azerbaijani citizenship, as “hostile surveillance” of the UK Royal Air Force’s Akrotiri base and providing information obtained to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

He was arrested on July 17, and British police are pursuing his extradition.

According to police, Sultanov lives in London. British media have reported that he worked as a taxi driver.

Akrotiri is the UK’s main air base for operations in the Middle East, and in recent years it has been used by British fighter aircraft in missions against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, as well as for attacks on targets belonging to the Houthis in Yemen—one of Iran’s proxy groups.

This base was targeted by an Iranian-made drone attack in March of this year, in the early phase of the war between the United States and Israel with the Islamic Republic.

Hashtags: ["DW Farsi"]