A man holding dual British-Azerbaijani citizenship has been arrested in Cyprus on charges of spying on a Royal Air Force military base on behalf of Iran, according to an announcement by British police.
Rashad Sultanov was arrested on July 17 by Cypriot authorities as part of an investigation conducted by the London Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism unit, in connection with incidents that occurred at the British base in Akrotiri between May 11 and June 22, 2025.
The 44-year-old man, originally from Islington in north London, is accused of surveilling the base and “sharing intelligence with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” authorities added. Sultanov is currently being held in Cyprus, and extradition proceedings to the United Kingdom are now underway.
