A British-Azerbaijani dual national has been arrested in Cyprus on suspicion of spying on a UK military base and passing information to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),
British police have said.
Rashad Sultanov, 44, from Islington in north London, was arrested by Cypriot authorities on 17 July. He remains in custody while extradition proceedings are under way, the Metropolitan Police said.
The arrest is part of the UK's first overseas investigation under the National Security Act, led by counter-terrorism officers following alleged hostile surveillance of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.
Police said the investigation relates to incidents at the British base between 11 May and 22 June last year. Sultanov is accused of conducting surveillance of the site and subsequently sharing information with the IRGC.
Helen Flanagan, head of counter-terrorism policing in London, said the case demonstrated that British authorities could use the National Security Act abroad when UK military facilities were allegedly targeted by hostile states.
Cypriot police have not immediately commented on the arrest.
The case comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and Britain. Earlier this month, the IRGC threatened to target British military bases if they were used by US forces to launch attacks on Iran.
RAF Akrotiri was also targeted in March, when an Iranian-made Shahed drone struck facilities at the base, causing minor damage. Britain subsequently said the base would not be included in its defensive arrangements with the United States concerning the use of UK facilities.
Iran was also reported in March to have launched two ballistic missiles towards the US-UK military facility on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. Neither missile hit the base.
RAF Akrotiri is one of two British military bases retained in Cyprus after the island gained independence from the UK in 1960. The base has played a role in British military operations in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
