‘Iran-linked spy' arrested in Cyprus for ‘plotting terror attack on British military base'

A MAN has been arrested on suspicion of spying and plotting a terror attack against a British military base in Cyprus.
The suspect, from Azerbaijan, has been linked with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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He was arrested following intelligence that he was planning an attack, according to Cypriot newspaper Phileleftheros.
Officials believe he had been monitoring a British RAF military base in nearby Akrotiri.
He has been charge with terror-related offences and espionage, authorities said on Saturday.
Police said no further details would be released on national security grounds.
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Times

6 hours ago

• Times

The missing link in the grooming gangs report: cousin marriage

When the US Department of Defence set up an interrogation unit at Guantanamo Bay after 9/11, it conducted a detailed study on the suspected terrorists it held. Agents wanted to understand the links between them, the way they had worked together, the better to infiltrate their wider networks. They found nothing. Diddly squat. They conducted audits, led themselves on a merry dance, but achieved zilch. • 'Wrongly prosecuted' grooming gang victims denied compensation Then they hired someone who understood the culture of the people they'd apprehended; someone steeped in Arabic mores. She instantly spotted a pattern in the names of the suspects. A startlingly high proportion were from two clans: the Qahtani and the Utaybi. When she mentioned this to her DoD colleagues, their first question was: what the hell is a clan? Only after she explained the significance of these social institutions, the subtle pattern of names that indicate clan affiliations and the codes of honour and secrecy that make them powerful vehicles for group action did they see the point. The agents were then able to infiltrate the networks and prevent future atrocities. Why am I telling you this? Well, because I read Baroness Casey of Blackstock's report on the rape gangs scandal with rising levels of frustration — indeed much the same emotion with which I read her 2016 report on social integration. I don't doubt Casey's work rate or integrity. But I think that, somewhat like the DoD at Guantanamo, she couldn't see what was before her eyes because she lacked the appropriate analytical lens. • 'Whitehall tried to block Rotherham grooming scandal exposé' You see, to understand many of the most urgent failures of integration, you need to understand the clan. These groups are held together not just by ideology or religion; they are cemented by cousin marriage, a common practice in Arabic cultures and, in the UK, many Pakistani immigrant communities, particularly those hailing from Kashmir. By marrying within small, tightknit groups, they ensure everything is kept within the baradari, or brotherhood — property, secrets, loyalty — binding clan members closer together while sequestering them from wider society. In her 2016 report Casey rightly talked about the failure to speak English, honour beatings and the like, but she missed the point that many of these problems are a function of marriage practices that isolate communities. The academic Patrick Nash of the Pharos Foundation has written of baradari life 'concentrated in small geographical areas spread across a few streets or nearby neighbourhoods where there is little need or opportunity to have much to do with wider society or practise the English language'. To write a report on failures of integration without seeing the link with cousin marriage is, I suggest, like writing on the power grid without noting the significance of electricity. • How the grooming gang report detailed abusers' ethnicity Casey's report on the rape gang scandal was flawed for the same reason. It was a strange experience to read her words as she edged ever closer to grasping the point without quite getting there. She noted that the problem is disproportionately concentrated among British Pakistanis. She even noted that 'two thirds of suspects offended within groups' that were 'based on pre-existing relationships — mainly brothers and cousins'. But then, stunningly, she suggested that these links were 'unsophisticated' and 'informal'. Anyone who studies these things — one thinks of Michael Muthukrishna at LSE — could have told her that this is the unmistakable pattern of clan-based crime: groups whose links are anything but informal and unsophisticated. Charlie Peters, who has investigated this problem for GB News, told me: 'The deeper you probe, the more you see the presence of clans. We know that such communities are more likely to see others as outsiders, of less moral value and, when it comes to young white girls, fair game. The perpetrators also knew that they could commit crimes without getting dobbed in since loyalty is owed to the clan but not victims. In some cases, abusers were aided by relatives in authority.' Nash put it this way: 'Cousin marriage sustains close-kin networks which incentivise clan members both to dehumanise out-group victims and to suppress knowledge of criminal activity to preserve family honour.' • Grooming gangs 'still at large, and the victims aren't believed' A couple of examples. Last year, Shaha Amran Miah, 48, Shaha Alman Miah, 47, and Shaha Joman Miah, 38, were convicted at Preston crown court of horrific abuse perpetrated in Barrow-in-Furness and Leeds. Yes, these were Pakistani men, but they were also brothers within an overarching baradari. In Rotherham in 2016, Arshid, Basharat and Bannaras Hussain groomed and raped children for nearly 20 years while Qurban Ali was found guilty of conspiracy to rape. Three of these men are brothers and Ali is their uncle. I have long advocated a ban on cousin marriage but should perhaps say that I've never regarded it as a panacea. Improving integration requires so much more: ending mass uncontrolled immigration, amending legal frameworks to stop the boats, deporting foreign criminals, not to mention other policies supported by large majorities but serially ducked by politicians. A ban on consanguinity would, though, be of huge value. American states with bans tend to be more prosperous and faster-growing. Nations with bans are richer and more integrated, with less corruption and lower rates of crime. A ban would also reduce the prevalence of the congenital diseases causing untold suffering in Kashmiri immigrant communities from Bradford to Luton. The good news is that Kemi Badenoch has adopted this as Tory policy after campaigning by her colleague Richard Holden, and a poll for YouGov last month showed that 77 per cent of the British people are in favour of a ban (only 9 per cent oppose it). But here's what astounds me: Labour remains against prohibition, despite (I am told) having read the evidence. Why? How? Permit me to suggest that I glimpse through the façade of prevarication a party still terrified of criticising any cultural practice out of fear of appearing racist. Isn't that why it was mute for so long on female genital mutilation and honour beatings and still can't bring itself to describe the burqa as a pernicious symbol of institutional misogyny? In other words, the reason the grooming scandal was not confronted for so long by both main parties (not to mention the police and social services) — namely, the fear of seeming bigoted for investigating ethnic minorities, even while they were gang-raping young girls — is still alive and well in the British government. As the son of a Pakistani immigrant who integrated into this nation (not least by marrying my mum) and came to love it, I find this sickening. One can perhaps forgive Casey for missing the significance of cousin marriage, given that it is a custom with which she is unfamiliar (although, frankly, she should have done her homework), but there can be no excuse for politicians who put cultural sensitivities before basic decency. So I say to Starmer, Hermer, Cooper et al: examine your consciences. Did you really go into politics to be apologists for the worst kind of moral relativism, to acquiesce in the nihilistic pretence that all cultural practices are of equal value, when they emphatically are not? If not, find your backbone, confront the Muslim bloc vote and ban cousin marriage. The alternative is betrayal of the most heinous kind. For here's a thought to focus minds: girls today, even as you read these words, are being abused by ethnic clans operating in this country. Fail to act now, and this is on you.

The Independent

9 hours ago

• The Independent

Brit arrested in Cyprus accused of spying

A British man has been arrested in Cyprus on suspicion of espionage and terrorism offences. He is alleged to have been monitoring the RAF Akrotiri base and is suspected of having links with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Intelligence suggested the man was planning an imminent terrorist attack, leading to his arrest on Friday. The man was reportedly observed near RAF Akrotiri, a critical UK airbase for Middle East operations, carrying a camera with a long lens and multiple mobile phones. The UK Foreign Office is in contact with Cypriot authorities regarding the arrest of the British national.

The Sun

10 hours ago

• The Sun

Tensions in Middle East ramp up as B-2 stealth bombers leave US for possible strike on Iranian targets

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Iran's 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is also said to be sheltering in a bunker as Israel targets military leaders and nuclear facilities in his country. US officials last night said no orders had yet been given to move the B-2s beyond Guam. But it ramped up more pressure on Khamenei to cut a deal — with Trump demanding Iran scrap its nuclear and ballistic missile plans. Meanwhile, a suspected spy linked to Iran was arrested amid fears he was spearheading a massive attack on UK forces in Cyprus. Sources said he was posing as a British tourist when he was detained near the RAF's Akrotiri base with a large camera with telephoto lenses. US deploys bunker-buster bomb carrying B-2 planes to new military base as Iran tensions grow He was also found to have three mobile phones when armed officers swooped on Friday. Police sources confirmed yesterday he was being held on suspicion of terror -related offences and espionage. 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Cyprus has become a transit point for stranded travellers since Israeli airspace was shut at the start of Operation Rising Lion nine days ago. Britain has upped the number of RAF Typhoons at Akrotiri and sent extra Voyager air-to-air refuellers. British and US warjets have previously helped shoot down Iranian missiles fired at Israel. But Sir Keir Starmer's government has so far kept the RAF out of the war amid fears of further escalation. Meanwhile, — as well as top brass and nuclear scientists. Israel Defence Forces' biggest scalp yesterday was terror kingpin Saeed Izadi — the financial mastermind of the October 7 attacks which detonated the Middle East crisis. Izadi, head of the Palestinian Division of Iran's Quds Force, was killed in a strike on a 'safe house' in the Iranian city of Qom. The Israeli military's Chief of General Staff Eyal Zamir said: 'Izadi was one of the key figures involved in planning and executing the October 7 massacre. The blood of thousands of Israelis is on his hands.' The Israeli military later said it killed another commander of the Guards' overseas arm, Benham Shariyari, in western Tehran. He was said to be 'responsible for weapons transfers from the Iranian regime to its proxies across the Middle East'. An 11th nuclear scientist was also assassinated at a safe house located by Israeli intelligence. Iran's foreign minister said he will not negotiate while attacks continued. But Trump hit back: 'It's very hard to make that request right now. Israel is doing well, in terms of war, and…Iran is doing less well.' But he added: 'We're ready, willing and able and we've been speaking to Iran.' Iran fired more missiles at Israel overnight which were intercepted amid reports of minimal damage. Palestine marcher in 'bottle hurl' bust By Eleanor Gunn PRO-Palestine protester was arrested after a bottle was thrown at marchers supporting Israel in London yesterday. His missile fell short but the suspect was chased down The Strand and detained, police said. Thousands of pro- Palestine demonstrators chanted 'Shame on you' as they passed a pro-Israel counter-protest on Waterloo Bridge. Later, footage emerged seeming to show a protester in a keffiyeh scarf performing a Nazi salute. Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn addressed crowds. He said politicians were seeking to 'turn people who protest against the invasion of Iran or the occupation of Palestine into terrorists'. Yesterday's protests came as ministers draw up plans to ban group Palestine Action under anti-terror laws. It came after two yobs from the group broke into RAF Brize Norton Oxfordshire on Friday and doused jets in paint