Iran pair guilty of spying on London-based journalists 'for Tehran'

A UK jury on Thursday found two Iranian men guilty of spying for Iran's intelligence service, as a chief prosecutor said it showed Tehran's willingness to use "proxies" to target the regime's critics abroad.

Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, and Farhad Manesh, 46, carried out surveillance and reconnaissance on targets that included two journalists, a lawyer and a media production professional between August 2024 and March last year, with Sepahvand also prepared to commit physical attacks.

The men had denied engaging in conduct likely to assist Iran's intelligence service but were found guilty by a jury at London's Woolwich Crown Court.

A third defendant, Shapoor Noori, 57, was cleared of the same charge.

The defendants were accused of visiting addresses linked to their targets, taking photos and videos, and using platforms such as ChatGPT to research them online.

"This was a calculated operation to spy on those critical of the Iranian regime," said Frank Ferguson of the Crown Prosecution Service's Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division.

"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.

"Cases like this show Iranian intelligence's willingness to use proxies to target the regime's critics abroad," the chief prosecutor added.

The prosecution said Sepahvand had intended to physically carry out a "violent attack" against at least one of the targets.

Those targeted for surveillance included two journalists working for the London-based Farsi-language Iran International television news network, which Tehran has labelled a terror organisation.

Political satirist and Iran International journalist Kambiz Hosseini had long been the subject of threats and intimidation from the Iranian intelligence services, the jury was told earlier.

Another target was Mojtaba Pourmohsen, also a journalist for Iran International and known as a poet and writer.

The third target was Jonathan Turner, a founder member of the group UK Lawyers for Israel. The fourth person has not been named.

 

- 'Bogus' claims -

 

The accused, who were born in Iran but living in London at the time of their arrest, were all charged under the National Security Act.

Sepahvand claimed he had been coerced but prosecutors labelled his claims "bogus", describing him as a willing participant who was looking to be paid £150,000 ($200,000) and have a conviction for theft in Iran "fixed" in return for his actions.

In a transcript of a voice note read to the jury, Sepahvand said if the target was at the address given to him he would "finish him or her off" if he was paid.

Manesh had claimed he was not aware that the surveillance was to assist the Iranian intelligence services.

Manesh and Noori were acquitted of engaging in surveillance and reconnaissance with the intention that serious violence against a person in the UK would be committed by others.

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