Two men convicted of assisting Iranian intelligence in UK

A Woolwich Crown Court jury convicted Mostafa Sepahvand and Farhad Javadi Manesh of offences involving conduct likely to assist Iranian intelligence, while acquitting a third defendant, Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori. Sepahvand was also convicted of an offence concerning preparation for serious violence. The verdicts were returned Thursday, November 12, after a trial at the London court.

The men were convicted under the National Security Act. Sepahvand, 41, was found guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service and a separate offence relating to a plan for violence. Manesh, 46, was convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service but acquitted of the separate violence-related charge. Noori, 57, was acquitted of the charges against him.

Prosecutors said surveillance of targets in the United Kingdom took place from August 2024 to March 2025. Those named included Iran International journalists Kambiz Hosseini and Mojtaba Pourmohsen, and Jonathan Turner, a founder member of UK Lawyers for Israel. A fourth target was not identified in court reporting.

The prosecution said the defendants visited addresses linked to targets, took photographs and videos, and researched them...