# Two men convicted of spying on UK-based Iran critics for Tehran

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/two-men-found-guilty-of-helping-iran-try-to-eliminate-uk-based-journalists/
- Published: 2026-11-12T19:15:30+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-12T20:01:17+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/nov/12/two-men-found-guilty-over-iranian-attempts-to-eliminate-uk-based-journalists
- Topics: Middle East, UK, World

## Key points

- Two men were convicted of aiding Iranian intelligence.
- Their surveillance targeted two UK-based Iranian journalists and a lawyer.
- The court heard of a proposed £150,000 payment for an attack.

## Summary

Two men have been found guilty of assisting Iranian intelligence services by conducting surveillance on people in the UK, including two journalists critical of Iran’s government. The case highlights concerns about hostile states using people recruited through social media as proxies to gather information and prepare attacks.

Mostafa Sepahvand and Farhad Javadi Manesh visited addresses linked to the targets, took photographs and videos, and researched them online between August 2024 and March 2025. The court heard Sepahvand used ChatGPT to find journalist Mojtaba Pourmohsen’s home address and discussed a possible £150,000 payment for a violent attack; the targets also included broadcaster Kambiz Hosseini and UK Lawyers for Israel founder Jonathan Turner. Hosseini and his family faced threats and left their homes in Iran, while Hosseini had to leave his home and stop working as a comedian.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.