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

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Cite

BBC News. (2026, November 12). Two men found guilty of spying for Iran over plan to target UK-based journalists. BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ck9q8g8209l2o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

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

BBC News · collected 2026-11-12 · by BBC News

Quick Summary

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 surveillance, took photos and videos of target addresses, and used ChatGPT to research their victims.
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 147796 · 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.

BBCThis outlet12 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 (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
The Straits Times12 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 →
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 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Iranian men found guilty in UK of assisting Iranian intelligence Same event
The Straits Times
Hedges 1 of 11 claims Outlet record 64/100
Two men found guilty over Iranian attempts to ‘eliminate’ UK-based journalists Same event
The Guardian
Hedges 0 of 36 claims Outlet record 65/100
Two Iranian men found guilty of spying on journalists in UK on behalf of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Same event
Just The News
Hedges 1 of 6 claims Outlet record 94/100
Two Iranian men found guilty of spying on journalists in UK on behalf of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Same event
Just The News
Hedges 1 of 6 claims Outlet record 94/100
UK court finds two Iranian men guilty of spying for Iran Same event
Al Jazeera
Hedges 0 of 12 claims Outlet record 60/100
Pair’s spying conviction shows Iranian intelligence willing to use proxies – CPS Same event
Evening Standard
Hedges 3 of 26 claims Outlet record 64/100
Iranian men guilty of spying on British journalists Same event
Al Jazeera
Hedges 0 of 4 claims Outlet record 60/100
UK court convicts 2 Iranian men of spying on journalists Same event
Deutsche Welle
Leans strongly right Hedges 2 of 26 claims Outlet record 95/100
Pair’s spying conviction shows Iranian intelligence willing to use proxies – CPS Same event
Evening Standard
Hedges 4 of 36 claims Outlet record 64/100
Two Iranian men found guilty of spying on journalists and lawyer for Iran’s intelligence service Same event
The Independent
Hedges 2 of 10 claims Outlet record 59/100

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
3
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 3 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
BBC News'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

BBC News · 5818 article(s) · 7 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 7 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

BBC News
261 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
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This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
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He is expected to be extradited after he has served his sentence in the UK.
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Even the UK's official forecaster the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) effectively pencilled in 0.3% at the Budget just 3 weeks ago.
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He will be sentenced at the same court on 18 November.
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This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
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Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by BBC News
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2026-11-13 · BBC News
Suspected Hamas member guilty of UK knife attack
2026-11-13 · BBC News
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 261 articles by BBC News →

Topics

Iran Iranian London Persian Woolwich Crown Court

Subjects

Iran GPE · 2× Manesh PERSON · 2× Sepahvand PERSON · 2× Farhad Javadi Manesh PERSON · 1× Iran international ORG · 1× Iranian NORP · 1× London GPE · 1× Mostafa Sepahvand PERSON · 1× Persian NORP · 1× Woolwich Crown Court ORG · 1×

Narrative

- Published Two Iranian men have been found guilty of spying for Iran over a plan to target UK-based journalists with "serious violence". Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, were convicted of engaging in conduct likely to assist Iran's intelligence service, at Woolwich Crown Court on Thursday. Sepahvand conducted surveillance and reconnaissance in preparation for inflicting violence on several "subjects" in the UK, including two journalists for the London-based Persian broadcaster Iran international and a founding member of UK Lawyers for Israel, Jonathan Turner, while Manesh assisted in planning.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-14
2026-11-14 · BBC News
Two men found guilty of spying for Iran over plan to target UK-based journalists · assertive framing

Claims (3 extracted, 0 hedged)

- Published Two Iranian men have been found guilty of spying for Iran over a plan to target UK-based journalists with "serious violence". Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, were convicted of engaging in conduct likely to assist Iran's intelligence service, at Woolwich Crown Court on Thursday. Sepahvand conducted surveillance and reconnaissance in preparation for inflicting violence on several "subjects" in the UK, including two journalists for the London-based Persian broadcaster Iran international and a founding member of UK Lawyers for Israel, Jonathan Turner, while Manesh assisted in planning. asserted
Manesh → publish → planning
A third man, Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 57, was cleared of the same charge. asserted
man → clear → charge
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. asserted
Manesh → visit → planning
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