UK Court Convicts Two Iranians of Spying for Tehran

A court in South London has convicted two Iranian nationals, Mostafa Sepehvand, 41, and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, of aiding a foreign intelligence service. The pair were found to have acted on behalf of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, spying on regime critics in the UK. According to British media reports, they were recruited via social media and acted as intermediaries for Iranian intelligence between August 2024 and February 2025, before their arrest by London's Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command in May 2025.

Evidence presented by the prosecution indicated that the men conducted physical and online surveillance on three key targets: two journalists from the opposition channel Iran International, one of whom was forced to relocate due to threats, and Jonathan Turner, a co-founder of the pro-Israel organization Lawyers for Israel in the UK.

Sepehvand, who had a prior theft conviction in Iran that was expunged after his conversion to Christianity, was also convicted of surveillance with intent to commit serious violence. He had written to his handlers expressing willingness to escalate to violence and "eliminate" one of the journalists for £150,000. Javadi Manesh was acquitted of a separate charge of intent to commit violence. A third defendant, Shahr Norri, 57, was acquitted of all charges. All three had immigrated to the UK from Iran within the last decade, arriving through various means, including a truck shipment and a small boat, and had sought political asylum.

Sepehvand, facing the most serious charges, utilized artificial intelligence to assess if he was under surveillance, inquiring via messages about the possibility of his communications being monitored. Frank Ferguson, Chief Prosecutor for the Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division of the Crown Prosecution Service, stated after the conviction that this was a "calculated operation to spy on critics of the Iranian regime," adding that "fortunately, the defendants were apprehended before any attack could be carried out."

Sentencing for the convicted individuals is scheduled for December 17. This case follows a July report by The Telegraph alleging that Iran has been orchestrating a smuggling operation of agents into Britain, reportedly led by Unit 700, an arm of the Quds Force within the Revolutionary Guards. The report suggested agents were being brought in disguised as migrants via small boats and flights from Eastern Europe, with an Iranian source warning Britain that its geographical location would not protect it from missile range.