Two Iranian men have been convicted of spying on journalists and a lawyer in Britain on behalf of the Iranian state, after a trial at Woolwich Crown Court.

Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, were found guilty on Thursday 12 November of assisting a foreign intelligence service, contrary to the National Security Act 2023. Sepahvand was also convicted of preparatory conduct, while a third defendant, Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 57, was acquitted of all charges.

Surveillance of journalists and a lawyer

Prosecutors said the men carried out surveillance and reconnaissance between August 2024 and March 2025 on journalists working for Iran International, the Persian-language broadcaster that is critical of the Iranian government and banned in Iran, and on a lawyer. They visited addresses linked to their targets, took photographs and video, and researched them online.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Sepahvand led contact with handlers in Iran and was promised tens of thousands of pounds, while Manesh fed information, photographs and videos through to him. In one message, Sepahvand asked a contact in Iran for £150,000 to “finish [the target] off” once they had been found.

First convictions of their kind

Police said the case marked the first time Iranian nationals had been convicted under the National Security Act, which was introduced in 2023 to counter threats from hostile states. Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said the operation showed Iranian intelligence’s “willingness to use proxies to target the regime’s critics abroad”.

Sepahvand and Manesh will be sentenced at the Central Criminal Court in London on 17 December 2026.

Sources: Crown Prosecution Service, Reuters