UK court convicts two Iranian men of spying on journalists
Woolwich Crown Court found the pair guilty after a six-week trial of surveillance for Tehran's intelligence service; a third defendant was acquitted.
Two Iranian men were convicted at Woolwich Crown Court in south London on Thursday of carrying out surveillance in Britain for Iran's intelligence service, including on journalists working for a Persian-language broadcaster banned in Tehran.
Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, were found guilty after a six-week trial of engaging in conduct likely to assist Iran's intelligence service, according to Al Jazeera, which named the men and gave their ages. A third defendant, Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 57, was acquitted on all charges.
Al Jazeera reported that the targets included two Iran International journalists, Mojtaba Pourmohsen and Kambiz Hosseini, and Jonathan Turner, a founding member of UK Lawyers for Israel. The men were accused of visiting addresses linked to their targets, taking photographs and video, and using platforms including ChatGPT to research them online.
Frank Ferguson, chief prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service's special crime and counterterrorism division, said the operation was calculated and aimed at people critical of the Iranian government. He said the pair were promised rewards for sending intelligence back to Iran, and that Sepahvand was willing to go beyond surveillance to carry out a violent attack on at least one target.
The Metropolitan Police said it was the fourth case in recent years involving direct threats to Iranian journalists in the UK. Vicki Evans, a deputy assistant commissioner, said the threat from hostile states was increasing and that Iran keeps adapting how it uses proxies, citing people who fly in to commit crimes and leave shortly afterwards, British nationals, and in this case Iranian nationals with settled immigration status.
Al Jazeera reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was outlawed by the UK in July under new powers against state threats, with penalties of up to 14 years in prison for anyone convicted of supporting or assisting it. The outlet also noted that Iran has most recently been linked to a plot against a United States-run military airbase in England.
Sentencing is scheduled for December 17 at the Central Criminal Court, better known as the Old Bailey.
How the reports differ
Al Jazeera carried by far the fullest account, naming the three defendants with their ages, reporting the acquittal, quoting the prosecutor and the Met, giving the sentencing date and describing how the men researched their targets. Reuters and Arab News framed the verdict in their headlines as "assisting Iranian intelligence", while Al Jazeera and the BBC called it spying. Arab News' standfirst said the case highlighted heightened Iranian activity in Britain, a point the other outlets did not lead on, and the BBC put the plan to target journalists in its headline.
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