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Opening the trial the prosecution alleges the three men were Iranian spies, conducting surveillance of journalists at a UK-based Persian news channel critical of the government in Tehran, with the intention of physically harming and intimidating.
Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 57, went on trial in Woolwich Crown Court on charges of engaging in conduct likely to assist Iran’s foreign intelligence service between August 2024 and March 2025.
Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones said people criticize Iran “at their peril” and that Iran International, a London-based satellite channel, had “come under particular attack” for its opposition to Tehran. He reminded jurors that former leader Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the death of Salman Rushdie in 1989 for his novel “The Satanic Verses,” and noted the vicious 2022 stabbing of the author in New York.
The three men have denied the two charges brought against them under Britain’s National Security Act.
This new law was passed to give the British authorities additional powers to counter threats posed by foreign states.
‘Ultimate aim’: expose them to ‘serious violence’
The trial of the three men has opened at a time when tensions between Britain and Iran have been rising. Prosecutors say Iran has repeatedly targeted its critics and opponents both inside the country and abroad.
According to reports from the trial the three defendants had investigated at least two journalists working for Iran International, visited addresses linked to them, and taken photographs and video footage in preparation for an attack that Sepehvand was to carry out.
The group is accused of spying on journalists Mojtaba Pourmohsen and Kambiz Hosseini, both journalists for Iran International, as well as Jonathan Turner, a founding member of U.K. Lawyers for Israel, crown prosecutor Emlyn Jones said.
He added: “Their ultimate aim was that one of these individuals, and perhaps more than one, should be exposed to serious violence, an act which was undoubtedly in retaliation for their criticism of the Iranian government, and also intended to create fear and to try to silence others.”
He told the court that all three defendants have admitted going to the locations and taking images, but they disagree over why they did so.
AP news agency, citing the prosecution case, reports that Javadi-Manesh and Nouri have said they did not know their actions would assist Iranian intelligence, while Sepehvand has admitted he was aware of this but claims he was forced to act “under coercion or threat”.