Suspected of Iranian espionage: a couple was arrested outside the sensitive nuclear base in the UK

Britain’s armed police yesterday (Thursday) arrested a 34-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman outside the Royal Navy Clyde base, which is Britain’s nuclear missile base in Faslane, a town northeast of Glasgow. This base is home to the Royal Navy’s Vanguard-class nuclear deterrent submarines, armed with Trident 2 doomsday missiles.

According to a report by the British newspaper “The Sun”, the man is an Iranian citizen, and the woman’s origin has not yet been reported. The arrests raised concerns that the two were planning an attack or monitoring the base’s defenses.

The Royal Navy said the suspects “attempted unsuccessfully to enter Clyde Naval Base on Thursday, March 19.” They added: “Since the matter is under ongoing investigation, we will not comment further.” A security source said the suspects attempted to drive into Clyde Naval Base yesterday afternoon, but were turned away by Ministry of Defense police. They remained in the vicinity of the base in their vehicle and “behaved suspiciously,” a source said.

The newspaper stated that the arrests were not part of a pre-planned operation by the security authorities, and noted that a major attack on the Clyde Royal Navy base could cause a nuclear disaster. The base houses nuclear submarines of the Vanguard series and attack submarines of the Astiut series. Both types of submarines are powered by nuclear reactors.

A source said military and civilian police stopped the couple in their car. Detection dogs searched the vehicle for explosives, and at the same time a curfew was imposed at the base. A Police Scotland spokesman said: “At around 5pm on Thursday 19 March 2026, we became aware of two people attempting to enter the People’s Naval Base Clyde. A 34-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman were arrested, and inquiries are ongoing.”

According to the report in the AP news agency and based on the British police statement, the four main suspects are one Iranian citizen and three British and Iranian citizens, aged 22, 40, 52 and 55. They were arrested in planned raids by special counter-terrorism forces that were conducted shortly after 01:00 at night, in a number of hotspots in North London and Hertfordshire, including the neighborhoods of Brent, Watford and Harrow.