London Jury Convicts Two Iranian Men of Helping Iran Spy on Journalists and a Lawyer
Woolwich Crown Court finds Sepahvand and Javadi Manesh guilty under the National Security Act after a six-week trial, while a third man is cleared and sentencing is set for 17 December.
Thursday, November 12, 2026/2 min read
A jury at Woolwich Crown Court in south London has convicted two Iranian men of helping Iranian intelligence, ending a six-week trial over the surveillance of journalists and a lawyer in Britain. Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, were found guilty on Thursday under the National Security Act, Iran International reported. A third defendant, Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 57, was acquitted of all charges and discharged.
The case turned on whether the men knew they were working for Tehran's security apparatus, and the jury's answer differed between the defendants.
What were the two men convicted of?
Both men were convicted of conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service. Iran International reported that Sepahvand was also unanimously convicted of surveillance and reconnaissance intended to commit serious violence against a person in Britain, while Javadi Manesh was cleared of a separate charge of surveillance intended to facilitate violence by others. Sentencing is due at the Old Bailey on 17 December.
Prosecutors said the surveillance ran from August 2024 to early 2025 and targeted people Tehran regards as opponents: Iran International journalists Kambiz Hosseini and Mojtaba Pourmohsen, and Jonathan Turner, a founder member of UK Lawyers for Israel. The court heard they visited addresses, took photographs and video, and used ChatGPT to research the targets, per Al Jazeera, citing AP and DPA.
What did the defence say?
Sepahvand admitted the surveillance but said he acted under threats to himself and his family and tried to frustrate the operation. Prosecutors argued that his repeated demands for more accurate details showed he was helping, and said he was expected to carry out an attack. Javadi Manesh and Noori said they did not know their actions assisted Iranian intelligence. Javadi Manesh did not give evidence, according to Iran International. A transcript of a voice note read to the jury had Sepahvand saying he would harm a target if he was paid, a detail we have not seen in the court record itself.
What did prosecutors and police say?
Frank Ferguson of the Crown Prosecution Service called the case "a calculated operation to spy on those critical of the Iranian regime," Al Jazeera reported. The Metropolitan Police described it as the fourth recent case involving direct threats to Iranian journalists in the UK, and its officer Vicki Evans said Tehran uses proxies, including British nationals or Iranians with settled status. Britain outlawed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in July, with up to 14 years in prison for supporting it.
The next marker is the December sentencing, where the judge's remarks on the Revolutionary Guards' role will be closely read in a case police link to a wider pattern of threats against Iranian journalists in Britain.
Published in The Outspoken Digest
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