Two Iranian men convicted at Woolwich Crown Court of helping Iranian intelligence target UK journalists

Two Iranian men, Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, were found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court in London on Thursday of assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act 2023, after a month-long trial. The court heard they carried out surveillance and reconnaissance between August 2024 and March last year on Iran International journalists Mojtaba Pourmohsen and Kambiz Hosseini and on Jonathan Turner, a founder of UK Lawyers for Israel. They visited addresses, took photos and videos, and used ChatGPT to research targets, including to find a home address. One man was also convicted of preparing a violent attack; the court was told Sepahvand offered to finish off a target for £150,000. A third defendant, 57, was acquitted of all charges. One convicted man said he acted under duress after his family was threatened; the other said he did not know he was helping Iranian intelligence. Iran denies involvement. Counterterrorism police said the case reflects intensifying hostile Iranian activity in Britain. The UK designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a national security threat in July.

Breitbart leads with immigration. Its headline calls the defendant a boat migrant, it describes the men as so-called asylum seekers, and it opens with Nigel Farage's warning about the southern border. It adds that both men were unemployed and were arrested in their beds, and that Sepahvand asked Tehran to wipe his criminal record. The Guardian leads with the plan to eliminate journalists and the hiring of proxies through social media. It places the case beside the life sentence given last month to Norwegian teenager Johannes Natland, and mentions the men's illegal entry only as background. Both sides agree on the names, ages, court, targets and the lorry and small-boat arrivals, though they give different arrival dates for Manesh. Breitbart does not mention the proxy tactic or Natland, and the Guardian excerpt carries no Farage. Deutsche Welle and Al Jazeera add Iran's denial, the defendants' explanations and, in DW's case, the acquittal and the RAF Fairford scare.