Iranian men accused of spying targeted journalists for 'serious violence', court hears

Three Iranian men have gone on trial in London accused of spying for Iran on UK-based journalists, who were being targeted so "serious violence" could be inflicted on them.

The prosecution said Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, was to carry out the attack, with Farhad Manesh, 46, and Shapoor Noori, 57, doing the surveillance and reconnaissance. All three were born in Iran but were living in London.

The jury at Woolwich Crown Court heard that Sepahvand does not deny his involvement but said he did it out of fear of the consequences of refusing.

The prosecution said that is "an entirely bogus claim", adding that he did it for money and to have a criminal conviction for theft in Iran "fixed".

Sepahvand was in contact with two men with Iranian telephone numbers.

According to the prosecution, Manesh and Noori are expected to say they did not know they were carrying out surveillance on behalf of Iran.

All three face charges under the National Security Act, including "assisting a foreign intelligence service".

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC said the men's targets were journalists working for Iran International - a Persian-language satellite channel that is critical of the Tehran regime and has its headquarters in London.

Jones said at least two journalists linked to Iran International were targeted in the surveillance.

He said at least one of them was to be "subjected to serious violence" as retribution and "to try to silence and deter others who might dare to voice their criticism".

Iran International, which broadcasts into Iran, has been declared as a "terrorist organisation" by Tehran.

"The evidence we will call illustrates that these three defendants carried out surveillance and reconnaissance, visiting addresses linked to their targets, taking photos, taking videos, doing online research about them," Jones said.

"The defendants were engaged in what is very obviously a form of spying," he added.

The men also allegedly had a "briefing sheet" on a barrister, Jonathan Turner, who was a founding member of a group called UK Lawyers for Israel.

One Iran International journalist who was allegedly targeted was Mojtaba Pourmohsen.

Images of him, his workplace and a hotel where he had lived were found in a "briefing document" on Sepahvand's mobile phone.

The prosecution says Noori took pictures of the block of flats Pourmohsen lived in in Brentford, southwest London, in December 2024.

It is also alleged that Sepahvand and Manesh went there to take photos and videos.

Another man targeted for surveillance was Kambiz Hosseini, the court heard.

The men even knew the name of his dog and the colour of his car, Jones said: "You can imagine the fear and psychological impact caused to him by discovering that all of those details about him, including the name of his dog, were known to the intelligence services."

Jones said Sepahvand's motivation was to try to resolve a criminal conviction he had in Iran for theft.

"He was not just in it for money. He quite explicitly wants something very particular in return for his work - he wanted his criminal conviction in Iran to be fixed," Jones told the jury.

The prosecution said Sepahvand's relationships with his contacts on Iran were not always good.

In one voice note he let out his frustration, saying: "This job is about committing an offence… I'm supposed to put up my own money, put my own life at risk, put my car into it, put my time into it, leave my wife, leave my home, go chasing after their business, and in the end get completely screwed because of them."

He later said: "This is an illegal job. It's something that constitutes a criminal offence and it carries a heavy prison sentence.

"At the absolute minimum, they should transfer £10,000 for now."

The prosecution said that in total Sepahvand was to be paid £150,000 to find a target and to "finish them off".

The three men, who each had an interpreter in the dock, deny all the charges.

All three were granted temporary leave to remain in the UK after claiming asylum. They arrived in the UK between 2016 and 2022.

Sepahvand arrived in 2016 concealed in a lorry. The other two arrived in small boats.

The trial continues.