Rashad Sultanov arrested in Cyprus for alleged spying on British air base

Cypriot authorities have arrested 44-year-old Rashad Sultanov, a dual British-Azerbaijani national, in connection with alleged hostile surveillance at the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus. The arrest marks the first overseas investigation under Britain’s National Security Act. Authorities allege that Sultanov conducted surveillance on the base between May 11 and June 22, 2025, and subsequently shared sensitive information with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran. While reports on his exact age vary between 44 and 45, the individual is currently held in custody as formal extradition proceedings to the United Kingdom progress.

The case originally involved charges filed by the Republic of Cyprus regarding surveillance at both RAF Akrotiri and the "Andreas Papandreou" air base in Paphos. Following a formal request from British authorities, the Cypriot Attorney General decided to suspend the local proceedings to prioritize the extradition process. Previous reports from August 2025 indicated that intelligence regarding his activities may have been provided by Israeli authorities, who claimed at the time that a planned Iranian-backed attack on Israeli citizens in Cyprus had been successfully thwarted. The investigation into Sultanov’s alleged intelligence gathering and methods remains ongoing under the direction of London’s Counter Terrorism Command.