Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, were convicted on Thursday at Woolwich Crown Court of spying for Iran, increasing the United Kingdom’s efforts to counter foreign state-backed threats.
The pair were found guilty following a six-week trial for engaging in conduct intended to assist Iran’s intelligence service in a bid to inflict violence on individuals within the UK.
Prosecutors established that the men conducted surveillance on several targets, including journalists for the Persian-language broadcaster Iran International—specifically Mojtaba Pourmohsen and Kambiz Hosseini—as well as Jonathan Turner, a founding member of UK Lawyers for Israel.
The defendants were accused of visiting locations associated with these individuals, capturing photographs and videos, and utilizing tools such as ChatGPT to conduct online research. A third individual charged in the case, 57-year-old Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, was acquitted of all charges.
Frank Ferguson, chief prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service’s special crime and counterterrorism division, provided further details on the nature of the operation.
“This was a calculated operation to spy on those critical of the Iranian regime,” said Frank Ferguson.
Ferguson added that Sepahvand was willing to move beyond surveillance and commit a “violent attack” against at least one of the identified targets. The Metropolitan Police said that this case represents the fourth instance in recent years of direct threats against Iranian journalists operating in the UK.
Vicki Evans, deputy assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan Police, described the evolving nature of these security challenges.
“The threat from hostile states to the UK is increasing and Iran continues to adapt its approach to using ‘proxies’,” said Vicki Evans.
Evans said that authorities have observed a variety of tactics, including the use of foreign nationals with settled immigration status, as well as individuals who fly into the country briefly to carry out criminal activities. Sepahvand and Manesh are scheduled to be sentenced at the Old Bailey on December 17.
