Key facts
- Three Iranian men are on trial in London for allegedly spying on UK-based dissident journalists.
- Prosecutors allege the spying was conducted on behalf of Iran's foreign intelligence service.
- The accused are charged with surveilling journalists working for Iran International between August 2024 and March 2025.
- The objective was to subject targets to serious violence as retribution for criticism of the Iranian regime.
- Mostafa Sepahvand, Farhad Javadi Manesh, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori have denied the charges.
- The trial is taking place amid growing tensions between Britain and Iran.
Three Iranian men are on trial in London accused of spying on British-based dissident journalists on behalf of Iran's foreign intelligence service, prosecutors told a jury on Tuesday. Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 57, have each denied two charges under Britain's National Security Act. The charges stem from alleged surveillance of journalists working for Iran International, a Persian-language television station critical of Iran's government, conducted between August 2024 and March 2025. Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones told jurors that the ultimate objective was to subject one or more targets to serious violence as retribution for their criticism of the Iranian regime, aiming to silence and deter others. He stated that the defendants conducted research on at least two Iran International journalists, visiting their addresses and taking photos and videos in preparation for an attack, which Sepahvand was allegedly to carry out. The defendants reportedly accepted going to places and taking photos and videos but disputed the reasons. Manesh and Noori claimed they did not know their actions were to assist Iranian intelligence, while Sepahvand admitted he knew but stated he was "bullied or threatened into doing what he did." The trial began this week at Woolwich Crown Court amid heightened tensions between Britain and Iran, with prosecutors asserting that Iran has repeatedly targeted critics and dissidents both domestically and abroad.