UK court convicts two Iranians of spying for Tehran

A court in London has convicted two Iranian men of spying for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps by monitoring journalists at Iran International, a Farsi-language broadcaster critical of Tehran's government. Police said the case was the first successful prosecution of Iranians under Britain's National Security Act, introduced in 2023 to counter threats from foreign states.

Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, was found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court of two offences: assisting a foreign intelligence service and preparing an attack on one or more targets. Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, was convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service and acquitted of the attack charge. Shapoor Noori, 57, was acquitted of both charges. The two convicted men will be sentenced next month.

Prosecutors said Sepahvand and Manesh surveilled journalists working for Iran International between August 2024 and March 2025. One target was Kambiz Hosseini, an Iranian satirist and critic who hosts the London-based channel's nightly show The Program. The prosecution said the group gathered information about his movements to help prepare a violent attack, which Sepahvand was to carry out.

'These defendants were engaged in what is very obviously a form of spying,' prosecutor William Emlyn Jones told the court. 'Their ultimate objective was that one or more than one of their targets would be subjected to serious violence, no doubt as retribution for their criticism of the Iranian regime.' He added: 'Eliminating hostile or critical voices has effectively become a staple policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran.'

Vicki Evans, Britain's senior coordinator for counter-terrorism policing, said Sepahvand was directed by the IRGC or 'middlemen' for Iranian intelligence. She said the case 'highlights the continuing and increasing threat to the UK from Iran'.

The National reported that Sepahvand's handlers contacted him using Iranian numbers saved in his phone as Mostafa Ghorbani and Amin. They offered money and promised to help 'fix' a theft-related criminal case against him in Iran, the outlet reported. Messages in evidence referred to a figure called 'Haji' and to 'ettela'at', the outlet said.

Sky News reported that both men had entered Britain illegally. A Manchester Evening News post carried on Facebook described Sepahvand as an asylum seeker and published police bodycam footage of his arrest. Tehran has repeatedly denied involvement in spying or similar activity. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was 'disturbed' by the arrests of Sepahvand and others in May 2025, The National reported.