Two Iranian men have been convicted of spying for Iran in a case that prosecutors say demonstrates Tehran's "willingness to use proxies to target the regime's critics abroad".
Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, were found guilty of engaging in conduct likely to assist Iran's intelligence service. Sepahvand was also convicted of carrying out surveillance and reconnaissance between August 2024 and March last year in a bid to inflict violence on "subjects" in the UK.
Targets included journalists and a lawyer
The targets included journalists for London-based Persian broadcaster Iran International, Mojtaba Pourmohsen and Kambiz Hosseini, and Jonathan Turner, a founder member of UK Lawyers for Israel.
Three defendants faced trial at Woolwich Crown Court, accused of visiting addresses linked to their targets, taking photos and videos, and using platforms such as ChatGPT to research them online. The prosecution said Sepahvand intended to physically carry out a "violent attack" against at least one of the targets.
Sepahvand lent forward and held his head in his hands when he was found guilty on Thursday following 19 hours and nine minutes of jury deliberations. Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 57, was cleared of engaging in conduct likely to assist the intelligence service. Manesh and Noori were also acquitted of engaging in surveillance and reconnaissance with the intention that serious violence against a person in the UK would be committed by others.
Prosecutors reject coercion claim
Frank Ferguson, chief 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. Cases like this show Iranian intelligence's willingness to use proxies to target the regime's critics abroad."
During the trial, Sepahvand claimed he was threatened into conducting surveillance against his will. But prosecutors described this as an "entirely bogus claim" and told jurors he did it to get paid and have a theft conviction in Iran "fixed".
In a voice note read to the court, Sepahvand told an associate he will "finish off" a target if he is paid £150,000. He also described being threatened into acting against targets, recalling one warning: "If you don't do it they will hit you and your family" – with jurors previously told the term "hit" could also mean to stab. He made reference to the Iranian authorities' ability to send police to his mother's house in Iran.
Counter Terrorism Policing response
Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) said they believed Sepahvand would likely have carried out any attack with a low sophistication weapon, such as a knife.
Mr Turner, chief executive of UK Lawyers for Israel, said the trial details are reminders that "Iran is a really serious threat to many people in the Middle East – not just Israelis but Arabs as well – and also to people in Britain, including on the streets of our capital". He added: "No-one should underestimate the seriousness of this threat and the importance of efforts to thwart it." Mr Turner also said he was "pleased and relieved" by the convictions and thanked police and prosecutors.
This is the fourth prosecution of individuals who have targeted employees of Iran International or their place of work in London. Other prosecutions include the jailing of two men for stabbing Iran International journalist Pouria Zeraati outside his home in Wimbledon, south London, in March 2024, and the imprisonment of a man for spying on Iran International before a "planned attack" on British soil in February 2023.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, senior national co-ordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, told the Press Association: "We know that Iran has a desire to project threat here into the UK. We have seen an increase in the threat from some foreign states, Iran included, and a desire to reach in and conduct sabotage, espionage activity here in the UK. That continues to grow, but we continue to put all of our resources towards this to focus on ensuring that we prevent those who want to conduct that activity from doing so, and that we bring those who intend to do it to justice where we can." Ms Evans said the increase in interest from Iran comes amid "huge instability internationally".
Sepahvand and Manesh will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on December 17.
