Three Iranians spied on UK-based dissident journalists on behalf of their country’s foreign intelligence service in preparation for an attack on one of them, a court was told.
Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 57, are accused of carrying out surveillance on Iran International, a Farsi-language television channel that is critical of the Iranian regime.
Mr Sepahvand is also accused of one count of preparing to commit serious violence, while the other two are accused of assisting him.
One of the targets of the group was Kambiz Hosseini, a prominent Iranian satirist and critic who hosts London-based Iran International’s nightly show The Program.
Mr Hosseini was monitored by Mr Noori and Mr Manesh as the group sought to gather information about his movements.
The prosecution alleges that this intelligence gathering was done to help prepare for a violent attack against the journalist that would be carried out by Mr Sepahvand.
“These defendants were engaged in what is very obviously a form of spying,” prosecutor William Emlyn Jones told Woolwich Crown Court in London.
“Their ultimate objective was that one or more than one of their targets would be subjected to serious violence – no doubt as retribution for their criticism of the Iranian regime. Eliminating hostile or critical voices has effectively become a staple policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
The men are alleged to have watched London addresses and used open-source intelligence to gain information related to journalists working for Iran International.
The news organisation has come under particular attack from the regime due to its support for opposition parties and its criticism of the Islamic republic, the jury was told.
Mr Hosseini’s “family had suffered threats and intimidation from the authorities in Iran and in the end his siblings had to flee Iran”, Mr Jones told the jury.
Mr Sepahvand is alleged to have carried out the work in return for money and to have had a series of accusations of theft against him in Iran withdrawn.
The three accused are alleged to have carried out surveillance of another Iran International journalist, Mojtaba Pour Mohsen.
Mr Sepahvand had briefing documents on his phone containing information about the activities and lives of Mr Pour Mohsen and Mr Hosseini in London, including the name of the latter’s dog, the court heard.
The accused have each denied two charges under Britain's National Security Act, brought in to give the authorities new powers to target threats from foreign state.
