Man Detained in Crete for Spying on US Base
A 36-year-old man has been detained in Crete on suspicion of spying on a U.S. naval base. He is accused of gathering intelligence on the strategic facility, a key American asset in the eastern Mediterranean.
The 36-year-old man detained is a Georgian national of Azerbaijani origin who had traveled to Crete from Germany on February 3rd. He was apprehended at Athens' airport based on a tip from Greece's National Intelligence Service (EYP), which had him under surveillance for about a month. He was allegedly staying in a hotel with a view of Souda Bay and was observed in the area on February 24, the same day the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford arrived at the naval base. Photographs of the warship were reportedly found on his phone, and authorities are investigating a potential connection to an individual in Iran via a mobile app. This is not an isolated incident. In June of last year, a 26-year-old Azerbaijani man was arrested on similar espionage suspicions after photographing the same base. Authorities are now investigating if the two cases are linked. That earlier arrest followed another in Cyprus, where an individual was accused of planning an attack on military facilities on behalf of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The target of the alleged spying, Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, is a critical strategic asset for the United States and NATO in the Eastern Mediterranean. Co-located with a Greek Air Force base, it is the only deep-water pier in the region capable of berthing aircraft carriers and provides crucial support for forces operating in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
