Two Iranians convicted over UK surveillance likely to aid Iran
18 sourcesUpdated Nov 12, 20261 min read
A jury at Woolwich Crown Court found Mostafa Sepahvand and Farhad Javadi Manesh guilty of conduct likely to assist Iran’s intelligence service after they surveilled people in the UK between August 2024 and March 2025. Their targets included Iran International journalists Mojtaba Pourmohsen and Kambiz Hosseini, and Jonathan Turner, a founding member of UK Lawyers for Israel; the men visited addresses, recorded photos and videos, and researched targets online. Prosecutors said Sepahvand was prepared to carry out a violent attack and was reportedly promised £150,000, while Manesh helped plan the operation; they also said the men were rewarded for sending intelligence to contacts in Iran. Prosecutors described the case as evidence of Iran using proxies to target critics abroad. A third defendant was acquitted.
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Whose framing of this story rings truest to you?
Iran's regime keeps trying to silence critics abroad and Britain needs to keep exposing these operations.
The acquittal of the third man shows the court was careful with the evidence rather than rushing to convict everyone.
It's good these two were caught planning attacks on journalists and activists here in Britain.
