Two illegal migrants have been found guilty of spying for Iran at Woolwich Crown Court. Mostafa Sepahvand, who arrived in the back of a lorry, and small boat arrival Farhad Manesh were convicted of helping Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) and conducting surveillance on targets including Iran International reporters Mojtaba Pourmohsen and Kambiz Hosseini, as well as Jonathan Turner, a founder member of UK Lawyers for Israel.
Details of the surveillance
The men compiled a high level of detail on their targets, including their home addresses, their workplaces and the names of their pets. Detectives revealed that in messages to his contacts in Iran about one of the targets, Sepahvand referenced 'finishing him off'.
Sepahvand took a leading role and would pass on surveillance instructions to Manesh. He frequently messaged Iranian phone numbers of individuals linked to the IRGC. Sepahvand admitted he had carried out the surveillance on behalf of the IRGC, but claimed it had been done under duress.
Motivation and rewards
The court heard that Sepahvand and Manesh "were promised rewards to send intelligence back to contacts in Iran." Sepahvand was partly motivated by the promise of £150,000 from his contacts in the IRGC. He also expected the IRGC to 'fix' his conviction in Iran for theft.
Frank Ferguson, chief Crown prosecutor of the CPS's Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: "This was a calculated operation to spy on those critical of the Iranian regime. Sepahvand and Manesh were promised rewards to send intelligence back to contacts in Iran, and Sepahvand himself was willing to go beyond surveillance to commit serious violence against their targets. Thankfully, the defendants were stopped before any attack could take place."
Threat from hostile states
Counter-terrorism chiefs said Iran is hiring nationals with "settled immigration statuses" to carry out conspiracies on their behalf. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP), said: "The threat from hostile states to the UK is increasing and Iran continues to adapt its approach to using 'proxies', we have seen examples of people who fly into the country to carry out criminal activity and then leave shortly afterwards, to using British nationals or, in this case, Iranian nationals with settled immigration status. People are often tasked via social media with the promise of large amounts of money, as seen in this case."
The targets of the surveillance were two journalists working for the media organisation Iran International, a lawyer working for UK Lawyers for Israel and a media production professional. A third man, Shapoor Noori, also a small boat migrant, was cleared after jurors deliberated for 19 hours.
