Following an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) London, two men have been found guilty of spying for Iran.
After a six-week trial at Woolwich Crown Court, Mostafa Sepahvand and Farhad Manesh were convicted of engaging in conduct likely to assist the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Sepahvand was also found guilty of engaging in conduct, namely surveillance, reconnaissance and open-source research, intending to commit acts, namely serious violence against a person in the UK.
In this case, the targets of the surveillance were two journalists working for the media organisation Iran International, a lawyer working for UK Lawyers for Israel and a media production professional.
Messaging contacts in Iran, Sepahvand used the phrase ‘finishing him off. It is believed he was partly motivated by the promise of £150,000 from his contacts in the IRGC. He also expected the IRGC to ‘fix’ his conviction in Iran for theft.
Manesh helped Sepahvand with the surveillance but was found not guilty of a section 18 National Security Act charge of doing it ‘with the intention that acts, namely serious violence against a person in the UK, would be committed by others’.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP), said: “It is clear the arrests of these two men by Counter Terrorism Policing officers prevented serious violence from being inflicted on one or more individuals in the UK.
“Following the arrests, the investigation team worked diligently and quickly to translate into English thousands of messages in Farsi and then used mobile phone cell site data to build a compelling record of the surveillance.
“The activity laid out in this case reflects a pattern of Iran targeting Persian language media in the UK, particularly Iran International.
“Indeed, this is the fourth case in recent years involving direct threat to Iran International journalists and we are working hard to keep them safe."
Officers from CTP London uncovered briefing documents on the mobile phones of the three men, which included details of the targets for surveillance. These included pictures of the individuals, the addresses of where they worked, the make and colour of the car they drove and even the names of their pets.
Sepahvand, Manesh and a third man called Shapoor Noori were all arrested at their home addresses on May 3 2025. Noori was on trial for the same charges as Manesh, but he was found not guilty by the jury.
Sepahvand and Manesh will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on 17 December.
Evans continued: “The threat from hostile states to the UK is increasing and Iran continues to adapt its approach to using ‘proxies’, we have seen examples of people who fly into the country to carry out criminal activity and then leave shortly afterwards, to using British nationals or, in this case, Iranian nationals with temporary leave to remain.
“People are often tasked via social media with the promise of large amounts of money, as seen in this case.
“However, the proxy takes on all the risk and will often only receive a fraction, if any, of the promised financial reward.
“So, our message to anyone being asked to carry out activity by foreign states, or even unknown entities online, is to think again.
“As demonstrated in recent cases across the UK, Counter terrorism policing officers are working relentlessly to arrest those responsible for state sponsored criminality. Using the National Security Act, we can ensure those arrested for these crimes face charges that can lead to substantial prison sentences following conviction.”
