Key facts
- Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, was convicted of two offences under Britain's National Security Act.
- Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, was convicted of one offence under the same act.
- Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 57, was acquitted of all charges.
- Prosecutors said surveillance was intended to attack them as retribution for criticizing Iran's regime.
Two Iranian men were found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court on November 12, 2026, of spying on journalists working for Iran International, a Persian-language television station that prosecutors said is critical of Iran's government.
Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, was convicted of two offences under Britain's National Security Act, and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, was convicted of one. A third defendant, Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 57, was acquitted of all charges.
Prosecutors said the men carried out surveillance on the journalists between August 2024 and March 2025 on behalf of Iran's foreign intelligence service in order to attack them 'as retribution for their criticism of the Iranian regime'. The body reports no sentence being set.