Two Iranian men were convicted in London on Thursday of assisting Iranian intelligence by monitoring journalists working for Iran International, a Persian-language broadcaster critical of Tehran.
Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, was found guilty of two offences under Britain’s National Security Act at Woolwich Crown Court. Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, was convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service but cleared of a separate charge linked to preparations for an attack.
Both men will be sentenced next month. A third defendant, Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 57, was acquitted of both charges.
Prosecutors said the surveillance took place between August 2024 and March 2025 and targeted journalists working for the broadcaster on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Sepahvand’s second conviction concerned preparations for what prosecutors described as a planned attack on one or more of those being monitored.
British police said these were the first convictions of Iranian nationals under the National Security Act, introduced in 2023 to tackle threats from foreign states.
Vicki Evans, senior national coordinator for counterterrorism policing, said Sepahvand had received instructions either directly from the IRGC or through intermediaries working for Iranian intelligence.
The case “highlights the continuing and increasing threat to the UK from Iran”, she said.
Iran has repeatedly denied involvement in espionage or similar operations. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said he was disturbed by the arrests of Sepahvand and others in May 2025.
