Court proceedings began Friday for three Iranians accused of spying for Tehran and plotting violence against a British journalist.
Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, have been charged with engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service. According to police, the three conducted surveillance and planned to assault British journalists on behalf of Tehran’s foreign intelligence services.
The men were arrested last month as part of a counterterrorism operation orchestrated by British police.
The men appeared via video in court on Friday, and their lawyers said they plan to plead not guilty. The Iranians are expected to appear in court again in September for a formal plea hearing.
The three were charged under the U.K.’s National Security Act of 2023, which introduced new offenses, including assisting a foreign intelligence service.
According to prosecutors, the men planned to attack journalists associated with Iran International, a news outlet critical of the Tehran regime. Police say the Iranians were conducting surveillance operations from August 2024 through February 2025.
Iran has a long history of threatening Iran International and its reporters. In early 2023, Iran International briefly relocated its headquarters to the District of Columbia after it reportedly received threats from the Iranian government. Shortly after, Magomed-Husekjn Dovtaev was arrested outside the channel’s U.K. headquarters and charged with collecting information likely to be used to commit a terror attack.
