The home port for Britain’s entire nuclear submarine force was visited by an Iranian male and a female companion, who were both arrested at the scene, on Thursday afternoon amid heightened spying fears over the conflict in the Middle East.
A 34-year-0ld Iranian citizen male and a 31-year-old woman of unspecified nationality were arrested after trying to enter the Faslane facility at Naval Base Clyde in Western Scotland on Thursday afternoon. Faslane is the home to Britain’s nuclear submarines, both its nuclear missile-armed ‘bomber’ boats, and torpedo and cruise missile-armed hunter killers, and is one of the most secure British military bases.
British state media the BBC states the pair did not try to break into or force their way onto the base, but rather “unsuccessfully attempted” to enter by asking at the gate. The Daily Telegraph reports they were initially simply turned away given they didn’t have any of the identity cards or paperwork required to access the nuclear base, but were subsequently arrested shortly afterwards for “acting suspiciously in the vicinity”.
FASLANE, United Kingdom (March 22, 2016) The Virginia-class attack submarine USS Virginia (SSN 774), right, arrives at Her Majesty’s Naval Base, Clyde for a scheduled port visit March 22, 2016. / Royal Navy / U.S. Naval Forcers Europe
Police and the Ministry of Defence are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident. A police spokesman said of the security incident: “Around 5pm on Thursday March 19, we were made aware of two people attempting to enter HM Naval Base Clyde. A 34-year-old man and 31-year-old woman have been arrested in connection, and inquiries are ongoing.”
Faslane has been the site of a well known and extremely long-running protest, a ‘peace camp’ run by the so-called Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament since the 1980s. Located close to the main gates of the base, the camp consists of a series of old caravans and camper buses in the woods on the hillsides around the loch that contains the nuclear base.
The CND has taken its protests to the very gates of the base several times over the years, with ‘lock on’-type activism at the base entrance well known, as well as ‘peace walks’ and other attempts to disrupt the base including so-called ‘die-ins’. Just last week, activists confronted police officers at the base and paraded ‘no nuclear weapons’ banners.
The camp celebrated its 40th anniversary of permanent, full-time protesting in 2022.
The protesters have managed to break into the base on a handful of occasions. In 2002, activists were able to cross the perimeter by swimming the loch at 3am to paint graffiti on a nuclear submarine. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said at the time: “These people are risking being shot. It is not a sensible thing to do”. In 1988, protesters cut the perimeter fence and were able to make it onboard a nuclear submarine before being arrested.
Thursday’s arrest of an Iranian male at Faslane comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East around Operation Epic Fury, and reflected concerns back in Britain. This week, two Iranian males appeared in court accused of spying on Jewish and Israeli-linked targets in London on behalf of the Tehran regime.
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