Two Convicted of Spying for Iran

The guilty verdicts are the jury's finding after a six-week trial. They are not the sentence. Sepahvand's second conviction is that the surveillance was meant to lead to serious violence. Manesh was cleared of that count, and a third man was acquitted. Dec. 17 is when a judge sets the terms.

A jury at Woolwich Crown Court on Thursday convicted Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, of conduct likely to assist Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Jurors sat for 19 hours and 9 minutes. The surveillance ran from August 2024 through March 2025. The targets were Iran International journalists Mojtaba Pourmohsen and Kambiz Hosseini, lawyer Jonathan Turner, and another media worker. No attack was carried out.

Sepahvand, of St John's Wood, was also convicted of surveillance and research intended to commit serious violence in Britain. Police said he dealt with the handlers in Iran and passed the tasks to Manesh. In a message he asked for £150,000 to "finish off" a target, and he said a theft case against him in Iran would be taken care of if he did the work. He admitted the surveillance and said he took part because he was afraid of refusing. Prosecutors told the jury that account did not hold. The jury convicted him.

Manesh, of Kensal Rise, was convicted on the spying count. Jurors acquitted him of a separate charge that he intended other people to commit serious violence. He had said the photographs were from looking for a new place to live. A third defendant, Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 57, of Ealing, was acquitted of the charges he faced.

Counter Terrorism Policing arrested all three at their homes on May 3, 2025. Officers said the phones held briefing papers with photographs, workplaces, and cars. Sepahvand and Manesh will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Dec. 17.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.