Greece probes Azerbaijani arrested for espionage for links to Iran

Arrest comes shortly after Cyprus detains ethnic-Azeri suspected of planning attack on military base for Iran.

Greek police have arrested an Azerbaijani national suspected of spying on a NATO base on the island of Crete.

Local media reported on Monday that the man was detained the previous day on suspicion of espionage. Authorities are reportedly investigating whether the case is linked to the arrest in recent days of a man with Azeri roots in Cyprus on suspicion of terror-related offences linked to Iran.

The 26-year-old was arrested in Crete after he was seen scouting the air and naval base of the United States at Souda Bay, broadcaster ERT reported, citing police and intelligence sources.

According to the report, authorities said he was seen photographing strategically sensitive locations and tracking the movements of warships entering and leaving the bay.

The base is a strategic US and NATO facility for the eastern Mediterranean.

Police seized approximately 5,000 photographs and numerous videos. The suspect is expected to be brought before a public prosecutor.

The arrest came days after a similar incident in Cyprus, where a man was detained for alleged espionage and planning a “terrorist attack” on military facilities.

The suspect, who was also reported to be ethnically Azeri, was said to be acting on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to Cypriot media, citing government sources, he entered the country using a British passport.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Saturday that the IRGC had attempted to carry out a terror attack targeting Israelis.

Cyprus and Crete lie close to the Middle East and have in recent days been used as a transit point amid the conflict between Israel and the US, and Iran.

Since the start of the hostilities, reports of detected espionage have increased on both sides.

Iran has carried out multiple arrests since Israel launched its bombing campaign on July 13, and executed several others who had been arrested in recent years.

On Monday, Iran’s judiciary said it had executed Mohammad-Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh “for intelligence cooperation with the Zionist regime”, which is Iran’s term for Israel.

He was also convicted of collaborating with Iran International, a Persian-language TV channel based in London that is critical of the Iranian government and that Tehran considered linked to Israel.

The previous day, Iran executed Majid Mosayebi after saying he had been proved to have been working with Mossad.

Late on Sunday, officials in Tehran reported that three people had been arrested in the western province of Kermanshah on allegations of espionage, one a national of a European country.

Special judicial branches are now planned in provincial prosecutors’ offices and courts to handle Israeli-linked espionage cases on an “extraordinary” basis, officials added.

Iran is the world’s second most prolific executioner after China, according to human rights groups, including Amnesty International.