From the Times and the Telegraph
A suspected Iranian spy has been arrested near an RAF base in Cyprus following intelligence suggesting he was planning a terrorist attack.
The man, believed to be of Azerbaijani descent, has links to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, according to local media reports and was arrested in the coastal city of Limassol.
Cypriot authorities confirmed they arrested the individual on suspicion of espionage and terror-related offences.
The suspect was thought to have had Britain’s Akrotiri base, home to the RAF’s Typhoons, and Cyprus’s own Andreas Papandreou air base under surveillance since mid-April, ANT1 news portal reported. According to unconfirmed reports, a camera with a telephoto lens and three mobile phones were found at a property used by the suspect. He is said to have told Cypriot police that he was a tourist.
The island country’s counter-terrorism unit received information from a foreign intelligence service that he was planning an immediate terrorist attack, Israeli outlet Channel 12 reports.
The individual appeared before a district court on Saturday, which has ordered an eight-day detention pending enquiries. No further details would be issued, police said, citing national security.
