Three Iranians on trial in Britain for 'spying' on scribes critical of Tehran

Three Iranian men spied on British-based dissident journalists on behalf of Iran's foreign intelligence service in order to attack them "as retribution for their criticism of the Iranian regime", prosecutors told a London jury on Tuesday.

The trio are accused of surveilling journalists working for Iran International, a Persian-language television station which is critical of Iran's government, between August 2024 and March 2025.

Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 57, have each denied two charges under Britain's National Security Act, brought in to give the authorities new powers to target threats from foreign states.


Their trial began this week at time of growing tension between UK and Iran, which prosecutors say has targeted critics inside the Islamic Republic and abroad. He said the three defendants conducted research about at least two Iran International journalists, visiting addresses linked to them and taking photos, videos in preparation for an attack which Sepahvand was to carry out.

"Their ultimate objective was that one, perhaps more than one, of these targets would be subjected to serious violence, no doubt as retribution for their criticism of the Iranian regime and to try to silence and deter others," Emlyn Jones said.