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Iranian men found guilty in UK of assisting Iranian intelligence

Read the original at The Straits Times ↗
Cite

The Straits Times. (2026, November 12). Iranian men found guilty in UK of assisting Iranian intelligence. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/iranian-men-found-guilty-in-uk-of-assisting-iranian-intelligence

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Straits Times · collected 2026-11-12 · by The Straits Times

Quick Summary

Two Iranian men, Mostafa Sepahvand and Farhad Javadi Manesh, were found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court of assisting Iranian intelligence by spying on dissident journalists for Iran International between August 2024 and March 2025. This case marks the first time Iranian nationals have been convicted under Britain's National Security Act, a law introduced in 2023 to counter sharply rising threats from foreign states. The report highlights the continuing threat from Iran while noting that the Iranian government has repeatedly denied involvement in any spying activities.
Written by AI on 2026-11-14, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).
See how they differ ↓

AI analysis

Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 147720 · logged 2026-11-14

How they differ

8 outlets covered “Two Iranian men found guilty of spying on journalists in UK”.

What each outlet says

One AI summary per outlet of its latest article on this story, written from that article alone and checked against it. Open the article for the outlet's own words.

The Straits TimesThis outlet12 Nov

Two Iranian men, Mostafa Sepahvand and Farhad Javadi Manesh, were found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court of assisting Iranian intelligence by spying on dissident journalists for Iran International between August 2024 and March 2025. This case marks the first time Iranian nationals have been convicted under Britain's National Security Act, a law introduced in 2023 to counter sharply rising threats from foreign states…

Iranian men found guilty in UK of assisting Iranian intelligence (this article)
Evening Standard12 Nov

Two Iranian asylum seekers, Mostafa Sepahvand and Farhad Javadi Manesh, were convicted of spying for Iran between August 2024 and March last year. They conducted surveillance and reconnaissance, including using online platforms to research their targets. The convictions highlight Iran’s use of proxies to target critics abroad, according to prosecutors. Sepahvand was found guilty of planning a violent attack, while…

Pair’s spying conviction shows Iranian intelligence willing to use proxies – CPS →2 articles from Evening Standard on this story
Al Jazeera12 Nov

Two Iranian nationals have been found guilty of spying on British journalists who work for Iran International, under Britain’s National Security Act. One of the convicted individuals was also charged with preparing to carry out a violent attack. Iran has denied any involvement in these activities.

Iranian men guilty of spying on British journalists →2 articles from Al Jazeera on this story
BBC12 Nov

Two Iranian men, Mostafa Sepahvand and Farhad Javadi Manesh, were convicted at Woolwich Crown Court on Thursday for engaging in conduct likely to assist Iran's intelligence service. The defendants were found guilty of plotting to inflict "serious violence" on UK-based targets, including two journalists for Iran International and a member of UK Lawyers for Israel. The reporting highlights how the men conducted…

Two men found guilty of spying for Iran over plan to target UK-based journalists →
The Independent12 Nov

Two Iranian men were found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court for spying on a lawyer and two journalists for the broadcaster Iran International to assist Iran’s intelligence service. Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, was convicted of surveillance and reconnaissance between August 2024 and March last year, while Farhad Javadi Manesh was convicted of providing assistance to the intelligence service. The prosecution highlighted that…

Two Iranian men found guilty of spying on journalists and lawyer for Iran’s intelligence service →
The Guardian12 Nov

Two men of Iranian origin, Mostafa Sepahvand and Farhad Javadi Manesh, were found guilty of conducting surveillance and reconnaissance between August 2024 and March last year to assist Tehran's intelligence services in targeting UK-based individuals. The defendants, who entered the UK illegally between 2016 and 2022, used social media, photos, and ChatGPT to research and monitor targets including two Iran…

Two men found guilty over Iranian attempts to ‘eliminate’ UK-based journalists →
Show 1 more outlets
Deutsche Welle12 Nov

A UK court convicted two Iranian men of spying on journalists for Iran's Revolutionary Guard. The men, in their 40s, were arrested last year and accused of plotting attacks against journalists working for the dissident TV channel Iran International. One was additionally convicted of plotting a violent attack, while the second faced but was cleared of those charges. The court's ruling reflects increasing hostile…

UK court convicts 2 Iranian men of spying on journalists →

Where they agree and split

Framing

How the first headlines put it

Stated as fact7
The headlines (7)

Iranian men found guilty in UK of assisting Iranian intelligence The Straits Times · stated as fact

Two men found guilty of spying for Iran over plan to target UK-based journalists BBC · stated as fact

Two Iranian men found guilty of spying on journalists and lawyer for Iran’s intelligence service The Independent · stated as fact

Two men found guilty over Iranian attempts to ‘eliminate’ UK-based journalists The Guardian · stated as fact

Pair’s spying conviction shows Iranian intelligence willing to use proxies – CPS Evening Standard · stated as fact

UK court finds two Iranian men guilty of spying for Iran Al Jazeera · stated as fact

UK court convicts 2 Iranian men of spying on journalists Deutsche Welle · stated as fact

The full story: what happened, how it changed, and all 11 articles →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 9% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Just The News
Hedges 1 of 6 claims Outlet record 94/100
Just The News
Hedges 1 of 6 claims Outlet record 94/100
BBC News
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 66/100
Al Jazeera
Hedges 0 of 12 claims Outlet record 60/100
The Independent
Hedges 2 of 10 claims Outlet record 59/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 3 of 26 claims Outlet record 64/100
Al Jazeera
Hedges 0 of 4 claims Outlet record 60/100
The Guardian
Hedges 0 of 36 claims Outlet record 65/100
Deutsche Welle
Leans strongly right Hedges 2 of 26 claims Outlet record 95/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 4 of 36 claims Outlet record 64/100

Story

Two Iranian men found guilty of spying on journalists in UK
Other · 11 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
11
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
9%
1 of 11 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
The Straits Times's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
11
Other
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-14 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Straits Times · 5118 article(s) · 7 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 7 correction(s)

Who wrote this

The Straits Times
3486 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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“You will have to ask them about their internal processes.”
Also by The Straits Times
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 3486 articles by The Straits Times →

Topics

Britain Iran Iranian LONDON Revolutionary Guards

Subjects

Iran GPE · 6× Iranian NORP · 6× Sepahvand PERSON · 5× Britain GPE · 2× Manesh PERSON · 2× British NORP · 1× LONDON GPE · 1× Mostafa Sepahvand PERSON · 1× Revolutionary Guards ORG · 1× Woolwich Crown Court ORG · 1×

Narrative

Prosecutors said at the start of Sepahvand and Manesh's trial last month that they had been carrying out surveillance on journalists working for Iran International, a Persian-language television station which is critical of Iran's government, between August 2024 and March 2025.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-14
Iran has repeatedly denied involvement in spying or any such activity, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said he was "disturbed" by the arrests of Sepahvand and others in May 2025.
2026-11-14 · The Straits Times
Iranian men found guilty in UK of assisting Iranian intelligence · assertive framing

Claims (11 extracted, 1 hedged)

Iranian men found guilty in UK of assisting Iranian intelligence LONDON, Nov 12 - asserted
men → find → intelligence
Two Iranian men were found guilty on Thursday of spying on dissident journalists in Britain on behalf of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, a case British police said reflected increasing activity by Iran. asserted
police → find → Iran
Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, was found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court of two offences and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, was convicted of one offence under Britain's National Security Act. asserted
Manesh → find → Act
Police said the convictions marked the first time Iranian nationals had been convicted under the National Security Act, introduced in 2023 to counter threats from foreign states including Iran, which the authorities say have risen sharply. asserted
authorities → say → Iran
Sepahvand was directed by the IRGC or "middlemen" for Iranian intelligence, Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing Vicki Evans said, adding the case "highlights the continuing and increasing threat to the UK from Iran". asserted
case → direct → Iran
Iran has repeatedly denied involvement in spying or any such activity, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said he was "disturbed" by the arrests of Sepahvand and others in May 2025. uncertain
he → deny → May
Prosecutors said at the start of Sepahvand and Manesh's trial last month that they had been carrying out surveillance on journalists working for Iran International, a Persian-language television station which is critical of Iran's government, between August 2024 and March 2025. asserted
which → say → August
Sepahvand was convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service and a second charge relating to what prosecutors said was a plan for Sepahvand to attack one or more of their targets. asserted
Sepahvand → convict → targets
Manesh was convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service, but acquitted of the second charge relating to preparing for an attack. asserted
Manesh → convict → attack
They will both be sentenced next month. asserted
They → sentence → ?
A third man, Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 57, was acquitted of both charges. asserted
man → acquit → charges
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