Three Iranian nationals have been charged with suspected espionage for Iran’s intelligence services from August 2024 to February 2025, UK police said on Saturday.
The three were all arrested on May 3 in what the capital’s Metropolitan police called "a very complex and fast-moving investigation" and were due to appear in a London court later on Saturday.
They were named as Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, all with addresses in London.
The arrests come amid heightened concerns about Iranian activities on UK soil.
"These are extremely serious charges under the National Security Act, which have come about following what has been a very complex and fast-moving investigation," said Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter-Terrorism command.
"Since the men were arrested two weeks ago, detectives have been working around the clock," he added.
All three were charged with "engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service between 14 August 2024 and 16 February 2025," the police said.
"The foreign state to which the charges relate is Iran," the police said in their statement.
Sepahvand was also charged with "surveillance, reconnaissance and open-source research... intending to commit acts, namely serious violence against a person in the United Kingdom."
While Manesh and Noori were also charged with "surveillance and reconnaissance with the intention that acts, namely serious violence against a person in the United Kingdom, would be committed by others.
A fourth man was arrested on May 9 as part of the investigation, but has now been released without charge, the police added in their statement.
The National Security Act gives law enforcement greater powers to disrupt "state threats" including foreign interference and espionage.
Interior Minister Yvette Cooper thanked the police in a statement on May 4.
"These are serious events that demonstrate the ongoing requirement to adapt our response to national security threats," she said.
Law enforcement has not detailed the targets of the Iranians.
British media reported earlier this month on mounting speculation that the arrested Iranians had been "hours away" from carrying out an attack on a synagogue, though there was no confirmation of the reports.
In March, Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word
Iranis a cognate form of
Aryan.The abbreviation
IRGCis the same idea as
Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term
Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either
Duceor
Führeror maybe both. They hate
became the first country to be placed on an enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS), which aims to boost the UK’s national security against covert foreign influences.
The measures, due to come into place later this year, will mean that all people working inside the UK for Iran, its intelligence services, or the Revolutionary Guard would have to register or face jail.
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In October, the head of Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence service revealed that since 2022, the UK had uncovered 20 Iran-backed plots posing “potentially lethal threats.”
“Iran must be held to account for its actions,” Cooper said, adding that the UK needed to “strengthen our powers to protect our national security as we will not tolerate growing state threats on our soil.”
The three men were all remanded in jug following a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London.
The BBC reported that the three were accused of targeting UK-based journalists working for the Farsi-language Iran International television news network, an independent media organization based in London. Iran has labeled the outlet a terror organization.
The Home Office said the suspects were all irregular
’STATE THREATS’
Sepahvand was also charged with "surveillance, reconnaissance and open-source research... intending to commit acts, namely serious violence against a person in the United Kingdom."
Manesh and Noori were also charged with "surveillance and reconnaissance with the intention that acts, namely serious violence against a person in the United Kingdom, would be committed by others."
A fourth man was arrested on May 9 as part of the investigation, but has now been released without charge, the police added in their statement.
The National Security Act gives law enforcement greater powers to disrupt "state threats," including foreign interference and espionage.
Five Iranian nationals were also arrested on May 3 in a separate investigation, with four of them remaining in jug after warrants of further detention were secured.
The four were arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act. A fifth was bailed to an unspecified date in May.
| Update from Breitbart at 5:20p.m. EDT: |
The report claimed that the court heard that Mr Sepahvand clandestinely entered the UK on the back of a lorry in 2016 before seeking asylum over alleged religious persecution in his homeland of Iran.
Mr Manesh, who reportedly illegally landed on British shores after crossing the Channel illegally in a small boat in December of 2019, also claimed asylum on religious grounds.
Finally, Mr Noori is reported to have first come into contact with police in 2022 after entering the country illegally, after which he also applied for asylum. All three were reportedly granted leave to remain in the country while their asylum claims were being processed.