A second-hand car salesman and an associate have been found guilty of spying for Iran after they were hired to track down and attack a lawyer and journalists opposed to the regime.
asserted
they → find → regime
The trial exposed a haphazard operation in which Iranian agents offered money and inducements to so-called 'proxies' in order to target their enemies in the UK but never found their targets.
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agents → expose → targets
It is the third time in three years that individuals have been recruited by Iran to target journalists but the first to involve Iranian asylum seekers.
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individuals → recruit → seekers
Previous investigations have involved criminals recruited from Chechnya and Romania to fly into the country, including one group who stabbed a journalist in a street in Wimbledon, south-west London.
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who → involve → Wimbledon
Iran has also recruited British-born proxies to launch arson attacks against Jewish targets in April and was accused of being behind a security scare at RAF Fairford in September.
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Iran → recruit → September
Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, a former gym owner and body builder with a criminal past, was hired to act as a hitman, to perpetrate 'serious violence' in return for a payment of £150,000.
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Sepahvand → hire → 150,000
He had arrived illegally in the back of a lorry in 2016 and was assisted by two other Iranians - Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, from Kensal Rise, and Shapoor Noori, 57, from Ealing - who had arrived in the UK by small boat and claimed asylum in 2022.
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who → arrive → 2022
Sepahvand was sent instructions by two intelligence officers from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) but only received £5,000 and was arrested on May 3 last year before he located any of the people he was supposed to attack.
uncertain
he → send → people
Bodyworn footage from Counter Terrorism Policing London of Farhad Javadi Manesh's arrest
Manesh, a 46-year-old who lived in Kensal Rise, carried out surveillance and reconnaissance
The arrest of Mostafa Sepahvand, a former gym owner and body builder with a criminal past
Sepahvand was hired to act as a hitman, to perpetrate 'serious violence' in return for £150,000
In messages, to a friend in Iran, Sepahvand complained that he was being sent information from Instagram and Google and treated like an 'errand boy', calling his Iranian handlers a 'bunch of idiots' who had watched 'too many crime films.'
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who → live → films
As he was arrested and pinned to the floor, Sepahvand could be heard screaming: 'Who are you?
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you → arrest → floor
Bill Emlyn Jones KC, prosecuting, told Woolwich Crown Court that the men's 'ultimate objective was that one, or perhaps more than one, of their targets would be subjected to serious violence, no doubt as retribution for their criticism of the Iranian regime'.
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one → prosecute → regime
IRGC agents in Iran called Haji and Amin offered Sepahvand money and clemency in return for locating a barrister who founded UK Lawyers for Israel and two journalists who worked for Iran International, a London-based TV station which has been repeatedly targeted for broadcasting material opposing the regime.
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which → call → regime
Sepahvand used AI to check if he could be under surveillance, typing: 'I am now in England is it possible for them to check both Chat GPT and WhatsApp?
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them → use → GPT
'I'm an ordinary guy, does that mean it's possible they are checking me now?
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they → mean → me
If someone wants to monitor WhatsApp what do they have to do, the police for example?'
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they → want → example
Sepahvand also used the AI application to look up Mojtaba Pour Mohsen, a journalist who worked for Iran International.
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who → use → International
The app provided Instagram, Twitter and Telegram handles but told him: 'Unfortunately I cannot search for people's private information, including addresses and personal communications.'
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I → provide → addresses
Sepahvand, an Iranian national and former criminal living in Paddington, had arrived in the UK in 2016 and was granted asylum on appeal when he converted to Christianity.
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he → live → Christianity
In court he showed off a series of scars and talked of a fight outside his gym in Khorramabad in western Iran, organising an attack on an opponent inside a jail and firebombing a house.
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he → show → house
He had fled Iran following a series of 32 robberies, including one in which a safe and valuables were stolen, and was jailed for four and a half years and sentenced to 70 lashes in his absence.
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safe → flee → absence
Sepahvand told Woolwich Crown Court that his presence in the UK was exposed when he appeared in an Instagram video for a dental clinic and he was then threatened by a man called Ebi from Wolverhampton who worked for the IRGC and was 'very active on TikTok.'
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who → tell → TikTok
He was also in contact with a man called Naveed in the Iranian embassy, sending him details of cars he was selling, including an Audi Q8 and a Mercedes GLE 450, although he was ostensibly unemployed.
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he → call → Q8
Sepahvand claimed he had been targeted by the regime after falling out with a senior cleric and was acting under duress.
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he → claim → duress
He told his trial he had been 'playing' his handlers, telling the jury: 'You have no idea what I have done with the IRGC.
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I → tell → IRGC
I took a risk.
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I → take → risk
I risked my life and my family members' lives to play them.
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I → risk → them
At one point he had to be restrained by three security guards after he launched himself from the witness box, pointing and shouting at prosecutor Mr Jones.
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he → have → Jones
Sephavand and Manesh were both found guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act and will be sentenced next month.
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Sephavand → find → Act
Noori was acquitted of the same charge after telling the jury he thought he was just 'out for a spin' with his friend.
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he → acquit → friend
Sepahvand was also found guilty of preparing to commit serious violence against a person in the UK.
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Sepahvand → find → UK
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, senior national co-ordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing said the case was 'particularly important' as the first example of counter-terrorism policing using the National Security Act to prosecute Iranian nationals in the UK accused of spying on behalf of the IRGC.
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policing → say → IRGC
'It's clear the threat from Iran is increasing, and they continue to adapt their approach,' she said.
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she → increase → approach
In this case, we see them moving from using foreign proxies, who fly in and out of the country to carry out the criminal acts, to Iranian nationals with settled immigration status.
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who → see → status
'We've also seen British nationals used for this type of work and it is a really concerning pattern.
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it → see → work
'The threats we face from Iran are very real.
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we → face → Iran
I hope that this case and subsequent convictions, and sentences send a very stark message to anyone being asked to carry out activity on behalf of Iran or any other foreign state, or even unknown entities online.
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case → hope → Iran
Think again, the consequences are significant, we will look to investigate and prosecute you, and you will face justice.
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you → think → justice
'
The threat has 'gone up exponentially over recent years' and there was a 'broadening of the types of physical threats and sabotage we're seeing in the UK,' Ms Evans said.
'We are seeing a desire to project threats into different communities in the UK, sometimes to media outlets and more broadly to Jewish communities becoming a target,' she added.
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she → go → communities
There were 'varied levels of capability in the individuals that are tasked' and some are 'just on the periphery of criminality who want quick and easy money.'
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who → be → money
She warned: 'They can be promised large amounts of money, as seen in this case.
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They → warn → case
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
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