Two men of Iranian origin who were hired through social media as part of a plan to “eliminate” journalists in the UK have been found guilty of assisting Tehran’s intelligence services.
Mostafa Sepahvand, ۴۱, and Farhad Javadi Manesh, ۴۶, carried out surveillance and reconnaissance between August ۲۰۲۴ and March last year in an attempt to inflict violence on “subjects” in the UK.
These subjects included two journalists for the London-based Persian broadcaster Iran International, Mojtaba Pourmohsen and Kambiz Hosseini, and a founder member of UK Lawyers for Israel, Jonathan Turner.
The defendants visited addresses linked to their targets, took photos and videos and used platforms such as ChatGPT to research them online. They appear to be part of a growing new tactic used by hostile states in which “proxies” are hired to work for foreign security forces, with often little idea who they are targeting or why.
Last month the Norwegian teenager Johannes Natland, ۱۹, was jailed for life after he agreed to carry out a hit in Huddersfield for the Foxtrot Network, a Swedish organised crime group backed by the Iranian regime.
The Iranian men came to the UK illegally between ۲۰۱۶ and ۲۰۲۲ – Sepahvand in the back of a lorry and Manesh in a small boat.
Sepahvand used the AI platform ChatGPT to find the home address of Pourmohsen, who worked for the London-based Persian language broadcaster Iran International. He hoped to be paid £۱۵۰,۰۰۰ to carry out a violent attack and help to “finish off” Pourmohsen.
Sepahvand chatted on WhatsApp to his handler, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander called Amin, as he spied on Pourmohsen in December ۲۰۲۴, Woolwich crown court heard.
Amin wrote: “These are new pictures of the guy/bloke.”
Sepahvand replied: “I’ll go tomorrow.”
Referring to a picture, Amin said: “And that dot is their office?”
Sepahvand said: “Love you brother, I’ll go there tomorrow.”
The pair also discussed surveillance of the Iranian satirist Kambiz Hosseini, who eventually had to leave home because of the threats made against him.
Bill Emlyn Jones KC, prosecuting, said Iran and its rulers did not and could tolerate dissent. “One organisation critical to the regime, and therefore very much in its sights, is Iran International, a news organisation which has come under particular attack because of its explicit support for opposition groups and its editorial stance, which is anti-Islamic Republic of Iran.
“Eliminating hostile, critical or dissident actors overseas is a staple policy of the Islamic republic. Together, the defendants were engaged in what is very obviously a form of spying,” Jones said.
Hosseini, ۵۱, had to leave home and stop work as a standup comedian as a result of the threats he received. He was sent a message with a picture of his car saying the next time he started the engine it would blow up. Hosseini’s family in Iran also received threats, and his family had to leave the country.
The court heard Sepahvand had been convicted of theft in Iran and was drawn into the plan to “eliminate” dissidents in the hope of reducing his criminal record.
after newsletter promotion
He told his Iranian handlers he was prepared to escalate from surveillance to violence, the court heard.
He hoped to receive a final payment of £۱۵۰,۰۰۰ for “finishing the job”, a reference to killing one of the journalists, the court was told. “If the person [the target] is inside, they pay the £۱۵۰,۰۰۰, and I’ll finish him off,” said Sepahvand in a voice note.
Sepahvand claimed his family was being threatened and that he never intended to go through with the hit. He also denied plotting to kill Turner.
Manesh claimed he took a picture of the Iran International site because it was “a beautiful building” and did not know they were working with the Iranian intelligence services.
Earlier this year, Roman Lavrynovych, ۲۲, and Stanislav Carpiuc, ۲۷, were jailed at the Old Bailey for seven and two years respectively for arson attacks on property connected to Keir Starmer. An anonymous Russian-speaking figure named El Money had recruited Lavrynovych and Carpiuc on Telegram.
Last year, six Britons were jailed for their parts in a Russian-ordered arson attack on a London warehouse providing aid to Ukraine. The ringleader, Dylan Earl, was recruited by the Wagner group, a mercenary organisation that acts on behalf of the Russian state.
Sepahvand was convicted by the jury of assisting a foreign intelligence service and preparatory conduct. Manesh was convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service, but cleared of preparatory conduct.
Shapoor Noori, ۵۷, of Ealing, was cleared by the jury of assisting a foreign intelligence service and preparatory conduct.
Sepahvand, Manesh and Noori had claimed asylum in the UK and received temporary leave to remain. None of them had regular full-time employment.
It is understood they met by chance and were then directed by Sepahvand and his contacts in Iran. There appeared to be no evidence of any wider plot.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb remanded Sepahvand and Manesh before sentencing at the Old Bailey on ۱۷ December.
