ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A UK court has convicted two men of spying on opposition journalists on behalf of Iran, amid growing concerns over Tehran’s willingness to target critics abroad through proxies and renewed threats of military action against European countries.
“This was a calculated operation to spy on those critical of the Iranian Regime,” said Frank Ferguson, Head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, in a statement.
Mostafa Sepahvand and Farhad Javadi Manesh were found guilty on Thursday of “assisting a Foreign Intelligence Service” between August 2024 and March 2025 in Woolwich Crown Court following their arrests in 2025.
Ferguson said Thursday’s conviction highlighted “Iranian intelligence’s willingness to use proxies to target the regime’s critics abroad,” adding to fears from European countries over a series of alleged Tehran-backed espionage incidents.
Beyond espionage, Tehran’s threats have extended to those of direct action. Also on Wednesday, Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei issued a warning of kinetic action against European military bases involved in renewed US action against Tehran.
“Every military base involved in the aggression- from West Asia to Europe - will be a legitimate target for Iran’s lethal strikes,” Rezaei wrote on X late Wednesday.
To secure the convictions, prosecutors presented extensive video footage, images, and text messages purportedly showing the men surveilling journalists working for Iran International, a London-based opposition outlet banned by Tehran.
According to the court’s statement, this is the first time Iranian nationals have been convicted under the 2023 National Security law designed to counter threats from foreign states.
Iran has repeatedly denied involvement with espionage incidents on European soil.
Thursday’s statement follows espionage convictions for two Iran-backed men “orchestrating a terrorist plot” at RAF Fairford in September as well as for a Norwegian national whose foiled assination plot was linked to a Tehran-backed network.
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