UK pursues extradition of suspects linked to espionage and fraud in Cyprus and Italy

A 44‑year‑old man with British and Azerbaijani citizenship was arrested in Cyprus on July 17 and is awaiting a UK extradition request. British authorities accuse him of conducting hostile surveillance of the Royal Air Force base at Akrotiri between May 11 and June 22 2025 and passing the information to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The case is the first in which the UK’s 2023 National Security Act has been applied to alleged offences committed abroad.

Separately, an Iraqi national who had applied for international protection in Italy was detained by the Italian State Police in Calabria. He was wanted by the United Kingdom on an international arrest warrant for alleged false‑document offences and evasion, with an extradition order issued by a Leeds court on January 5. After being captured at an asylum centre, he was transferred to an Italian jail pending a hearing by the Court of Appeal in Catanzaro on the UK’s extradition request.