A senior U.S. soldier was arrested in Britain on suspicion of assisting Russian intelligence, British police said on Tuesday, after the U.S. removed aircraft from British military bases over a separate apparent threat from Iran.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the arrest of the 41-year-old man was related to “allegations of espionage, which is of the utmost concern to the United States and our allies.”
Brig. Gen. Sean Stinchon, the commanding general of U.S. Army Counterintelligence Command, added: “The alleged conduct of a senior soldier, entrusted with sensitive information, is a sobering reminder that insider threats are real and persistent.”
The arrest, which took place near the city of Gloucester, west England, on Tuesday, “is not linked to any other ongoing Counter Terrorism Policing investigations,” British police said.
But it occurred the day after the U.S. removed refuelling aircraft from a British airbase in the second such apparent evacuation in three months.
Planes left the Royal Air Force base in Mildenhall, eastern England, on Monday, which, according to the Wall Street Journal, was prompted by a threat from Iran.
The U.S. in September withdrew bombers that had been used to strike Iran from RAF Fairford on security grounds over an incident police have linked to Iran, which has denied any links to attacks or incidents in Britain.
The soldier arrested on Tuesday was detained on suspicion of offenses under sections 1 and 3 of the National Security Act, which relate to obtaining or disclosing protected information and assisting a foreign intelligence service. Police said the country to which the allegations relate is Russia.
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