Two Iranians convicted of spying for Tehran in Britain

Two ​Iranian ​men have been found guilty by a court in the UK of <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2026/10/06/three-iranians-spied-on-dissident-journalists-and-plotted-violent-attack-in-london/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2026/10/06/three-iranians-spied-on-dissident-journalists-and-plotted-violent-attack-in-london/">spying ⁠on dissident journalists</a> in Britain on behalf ⁠of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a case police said reflected increasing <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/us/2026/11/10/iran-fairford-plot-charges/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/us/2026/11/10/iran-fairford-plot-charges/">espionage activity by Tehran</a>.

Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, was convicted at Woolwich Crown Court of two offences and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, was convicted of one offence under Britain's National Security ⁠Act. Police said the convictions marked the first time Iranians ​had ⁠been successfully prosecuted under ‌the National Security Act, introduced in 2023 to counter threats from ​foreign states including Iran, which British authorities say have risen sharply. Vicki Evans, Britain's senior national co-ordinator for counter-terrorism policing, said Sepahvand was directed by the IRGC, or “middlemen” for Iranian intelligence, and the case “highlights the continuing and increasing threat to the UK from Iran”.

Tehran has repeatedly <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/2026/10/16/iran-uk-terrorism-security/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/2026/10/16/iran-uk-terrorism-security/">denied involvement in spying</a> or any similar activity, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was “disturbed” by the arrests of Sepahvand and others in May 2025. Prosecutors said at the start of Sepahvand and Manesh's trial last month that ​the pair had been carrying out surveillance ‌on journalists working for Iran ⁠International, a Farsi-language television station that ​is critical of Iran's government, between August 2024 ​and March ‌2025.

Sepahvand’s two handlers contacted him using Iranian numbers, saved in his mobile as Mostafa Ghorbani and Amin. They gave him instructions and information that he relayed to Manesh. In addition to offering money, the handlers promised to help “fix” a theft-related criminal case against Sepahvand in Iran. Those were his motivations. Evidence in the case featured conversations with the handlers that often mentioned another mysterious person called “Haji”, who Sepahvand and Ghorbani believed could be working for Iran’s intelligence agency, referred to in the messages as “ettela’at”.

“Ettela’at” refers to Iran’s primary civilian intelligence agency, formally known as the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic of Iran. “Do these people actually have any power/influence or not?” Sepahvand asked. Ghorbani replied: “Let me see how much clout Haji has, if he really is with the ETELLAT.” Sepahvand was convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service and of a second charge relating to what prosecutors said was a plan for Sepahvand to attack one or more of its targets.

Manesh was convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service, but was acquitted of the second charge relating to preparing for an attack. They ​will both be sentenced next month. A third man, Shapoor Noori, 57, was acquitted of both charges. One of the targets of the group was Kambiz Hosseini, an <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/iran/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/iran/">Iranian</a> satirist and critic who hosts <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/london/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/london/">London</a>-based Iran International’s nightly show <i>The Program</i>.

Mr Hosseini was monitored by the group as it sought to gather information about his movements. The prosecution alleged that this intelligence gathering was done to help prepare for a violent attack against the journalist, which would be carried out by Mr Sepahvand. “These defendants were engaged in what is very obviously a form of spying,” prosecutor William Emlyn Jones told Woolwich Crown <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/courts/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/courts/">Court</a> in London.

“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. Eliminating hostile or critical voices has effectively become a staple policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”