Two Iranian men have been found guilty of engaging in conduct likely to assist Iran’s intelligence service.
Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, carried out surveillance and reconnaissance between August 2024 and March last year in a bid to inflict violence on “subjects” in the UK.
These “subjects” included journalists for London-based Persian broadcaster Iran International, Mojtaba Pourmohsen and Kambiz Hosseini, and Jonathan Turner, a founding member of UK-Lawyers for Israel
The defendants visited addresses linked to their targets, took photos and videos, and used platforms such as ChatGPT to research them online.
The prosecution said Sepahvand intended to physically carry out a “violent attack” against at least one of the targets, while Manesh assisted in planning.
They were found guilty on Thursday after a trial at Woolwich Crown Court.
Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 57, was cleared of the same charge.
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