Two men found guilty of spying for Iran on journalists and a lawyer in the UK
Two Iranian men were found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court on Thursday of assisting a foreign intelligence service, after prosecutors said they carried out surveillance on journalists working for the London-based broadcaster Iran International and on a lawyer, on behalf of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, was also convicted of preparatory conduct — the court heard he intended a violent attack on at least one target and asked for £150,000 to 'finish off' a target. Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, was acquitted of the preparatory charge. A third man, Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 57, was acquitted of all charges. Sentencing is at the Old Bailey on 17 December.
Key points
- Mostafa Sepahvand was found guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service and of preparatory conduct; Farhad Javadi Manesh was found guilty of assisting, and cleared of the preparatory charge.
- The targets were two Iran International journalists, a UK Lawyers for Israel founder and a media professional, watched between August 2024 and March 2025.
- The court heard Sepahvand asked handlers in Iran for £150,000 to 'finish off' a target; no attack took place.
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- A third man, Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, was acquitted of all charges. Sentencing is on 17 December at the Old Bailey.
What happened
Iran International, a Persian-language channel based in London, is critical of Iran's government and is banned by the Iranian regime; its journalists in Britain have been threatened before, and British police have repeatedly warned of Iranian plots against dissidents and journalists in the UK. The two convicted men, both from west London, are asylum seekers who had been granted temporary leave to remain.
The case was prosecuted under the National Security Act 2023, Britain's updated espionage law, which created the offence of assisting a foreign intelligence service used in these verdicts.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- That Sepahvand and Manesh were convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service, that Sepahvand was also convicted of preparatory conduct, and that Noori was acquitted of all charges.
- That sentencing will take place at the Old Bailey on 17 December.
- That no attack took place — the CPS says the defendants were stopped first.
What we don't know yet
- The sentences the two men will receive on 17 December.
- Whether Iran will respond to the verdicts — no Iranian response appears in the reporting read.
- Who the handlers in Iran were beyond the prosecution's account of IRGC tasking and middlemen.
Claim by claim
Show all claims (5)
Why this label: The verdicts, the charges and the sentencing date are the Crown Prosecution Service's own record of the trial, with the BBC and Reuters in agreement.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The targets and the surveillance period are the prosecution case the jury accepted, reported in the same terms by the CPS, the BBC and Reuters; Counter Terrorism Policing said it was the first time ChatGPT search history had been presented in a state-threat case.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The tasking, the payment promise and the £150,000 message are evidence set out by the CPS and reported by the BBC from the trial; no attack took place.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Sepahvand's defence is carried as his position, as the BBC and the CPS both record it; the jury's verdicts rejected it as a defence to the charges.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: These are the prosecutors' and police's stated assessments after the verdicts, carried as their positions.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why it matters
The verdicts establish in court what British police have long alleged: that Iranian intelligence works through proxies in Britain to watch — and, on the prosecution case, prepare violence against — the regime's critics. For the journalists named, the surveillance reached their homes, their cars and their families' details; the sentence on 17 December will show how the court weighs that.
Background
The surveillance of the journalists and the lawyer takes place, on the prosecution case accepted by the jury.
A Woolwich Crown Court jury convicts Sepahvand on both counts and Manesh on one, and acquits Noori of all charges.
Sepahvand and Manesh are due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
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Published. Basis: the Crown Prosecution Service's statement of the verdicts, with the BBC and Reuters in agreement.