UK cops arrest suspected Iranian spies for trying to enter nuclear submarine base

Arrests at base housing Britain’s nuclear-armed submarine fleet come amid rising Iran-linked threats in Britain, three weeks into the US-Israel war against the Islamic Republic

Scottish police on Friday said they arrested two people attempting to enter a Royal Navy base in the northwest where Britain’s nuclear submarines are based, including a man identified by UK media as Iranian.

“Around 5 p.m. on Thursday, 19 March, 2026, we were made aware of two people attempting to enter HM Naval Base Clyde,” Police Scotland said in a statement sent to AFP.

“A 34-year-old man and 31-year-old woman have been arrested in connection and inquiries are ongoing,” the police added, without providing additional details.

The Royal Navy confirmed the arrests but said that “as the matter is subject to an ongoing investigation, we will not comment further.”

The Clyde base, known as Faslane, is located on the west coast of Scotland and is key to Britain’s security, hosting the country’s nuclear-armed submarine fleet, as well as its attack submarines.

The arrests come three weeks into the US-Israel war on Iran. While Britain has not taken part in the attacks on Iran, the country’s forces have downed Iranian missiles and drones in the Gulf region.

The UK has allowed the United States to use two of its military bases — in Fairford in southwest England and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean — for operations in Washington’s war against Iran, which the British government insists are purely “defensive.”

The threat posed to Britain from Iran has been the subject of repeated warnings from the UK’s domestic spy agency MI5, with accusations that Tehran was behind more than 20 suspected kidnap and assassination plots in the country.

There have been several cases of suspected Iranian spies being arrested in the UK over the last year. Iran has repeatedly denied allegations of spying, saying it is part of a campaign against it by hostile Western powers.

Two men appeared in a London court on Thursday, accused of being tasked by Iran to carry out hostile surveillance on Jewish people and sites in London.

Britain has been a nuclear power since the 1950s. Since the 1990s, its nuclear deterrent has consisted of four Royal Navy submarines armed with Trident ballistic missiles.

Earlier in March, the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament organized a demonstration outside the Clyde base, which regularly attracts protests.