Three Iranians deny violent spy plot in UK

Journalists hostile to Iran were said to be the targets

The three accused Iranians appeared via videolink from Belmarsh prison. Reuters

Three Iranian nationals have denied spying in the UK on behalf of Iran’s foreign intelligence service.

Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday charged with offences under the National Security Act.

They are all charged with engaging in conduct likely to assist the Iranian foreign intelligence service between August 14, 2024, and February 16 this year.

Mr Sepahvand, of St John’s Wood, north London, is also charged with engaging in surveillance, reconnaissance and open-source research with the intention to commit serious violence against a person in the UK.

Mr Manesh, of Brent, and Mr Noori, of Ealing, are further charged with engaging in surveillance and reconnaissance, with the intention that serious violence against a person in the UK would be committed by others.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC told the court the charges related to journalists and organisations “known to be considered by the Iranian regime as hostile to them”, and that the conduct fell into an “extremely high bracket of seriousness”.

The three defendants, who appeared via video link from HMP Belmarsh, spoke through a Farsi interpreter to confirm their identities before entering not guilty pleas to all charges in English.

The court previously heard the three men all arrived in the UK by irregular means, including by small boats and a lorry, between 2016 and 2022.

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb refused an application for bail for Manesh and remanded all three men in custody ahead of a further hearing on March 13 next year.

A provisional trial has been set at the Old Bailey for October 5 next year.