Two men have been convicted at Woolwich Crown Court of spying for Iranian intelligence after a trial over surveillance of journalists and a lawyer in Britain.
Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, were found guilty on 12 November of engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service. Their targets included journalists working for a London-based Persian-language broadcaster, a lawyer and a media production professional.
Sepahvand was also convicted of preparatory conduct involving surveillance and research with the intention of committing serious violence against a person in the UK. Javadi Manesh was found not guilty of the separate preparatory conduct charge he faced.
A third defendant, Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 57, was acquitted of all charges. The two convicted men have been remanded ahead of sentencing at the Old Bailey on 17 December 2026. No sentence has yet been imposed.
Evidence of surveillance
The jury reached its verdicts after a six-week trial. The surveillance, reconnaissance and online research took place between August 2024 and March 2025. The investigation was led by Counter Terrorism Policing in London.
The journalists worked for a broadcaster that is banned in Iran. The lawyer was associated with UK Lawyers for Israel. Prosecutors said the operation was directed at people critical of the Iranian government.
Briefing documents recovered from mobile phones included photographs of the targets, their work addresses and details of vehicles. Investigators examined messages, images, videos and voice notes, translating material from Farsi as they built the case.
Sepahvand led contact with people in Iran while Javadi Manesh passed information, photographs and videos to him. Mobile phone location data placed Sepahvand in an area of London in late 2024 while he was carrying out surveillance.
Sepahvand used the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT to research a target. Investigators examined hundreds of gigabytes of data during the inquiry. The material helped them reconstruct the surveillance and the communications around it.
According to police, Sepahvand discussed a payment of £150,000 with an Iranian contact in connection with a potential violent attack. He also expected help over a theft conviction in Iran. The prosecution said the defendants were stopped before an attack took place.
Different verdicts
Sepahvand acknowledged carrying out surveillance but said he had acted under duress and feared consequences for himself and his family. Prosecutors challenged that account. Javadi Manesh denied knowing that his activities were assisting Iranian intelligence.
Both men were convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act 2023. The additional preparatory conduct offence was a separate charge. Its verdict applied to Sepahvand, not Javadi Manesh, who was acquitted of that charge.
The distinction is important: the jury did not convict the third defendant, Noori, of either offence. The convictions of the other two men do not change his acquittal. Sentencing will be a further stage in the proceedings for Sepahvand and Javadi Manesh.
Threats to journalists
Police identified Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as the intelligence organisation the men assisted.
In a general statement issued in April, Iran’s embassy in Britain rejected allegations of Iranian involvement in violent activities in the UK. Its statement did not address this trial. The case now awaits the court’s decision on the sentences for the two convicted men.
