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Three Iranians on trial in UK for spying on dissident journalists

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The Straits Times. (2026, October 6). Three Iranians on trial in UK for spying on dissident journalists. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/three-iranians-on-trial-in-uk-for-spying-on-dissident-journalists

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Straits Times · collected 2026-10-06 · by The Straits Times

Quick Summary

Three Iranian men are on trial in London for spying on journalists who work for Iran International, a station critical of the Iranian government. Prosecutors claim that between August 2024 and March 2025, the trio surveilled at least two journalists by visiting their addresses and taking photos and videos to prepare for an attack intended as retribution against dissidents abroad. The defendants deny charges under Britain's National Security Act, with the prosecution arguing these actions were part of Iran’s policy to silence critics both inside and outside its borders.
Written by AI on 2026-10-06, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Three Iranian men, Mostafa Sepahvand, Farhad Javadi Manesh, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, are on trial in Woolwich Crown Court for allegedly spying on journalists working for Iran International, a Persian-language TV station based in the UK that criticizes Iran's government. The trio is accused of conducting surveillance between August 2024 and March 2025 to gather information about journalists' routines, including their addresses, workplaces, and personal habits, with the intention of physically harming them as retribution for criticizing the Iranian regime. Prosecutors claim that Sepahvand was initially intended to carry out a violent attack on at least one journalist. The trial comes amid heightened tensions between Britain and Iran over the targeting of critics both inside and outside the country. The defendants deny charges under Britain's National Security Act, which aims to combat threats from foreign states.

Written for “Iranians Spying Trial UK” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Iranians Spying Trial UK
Politics · 3 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
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Hedges 5 of 22 claims Outlet record 68/100
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⚖️ Leans right Hedges 0 of 4 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe two separate events: one involving a hard-line Iranian lawmaker being jailed in Iran, and another involving Iranians on trial in the UK for spying on dissident journalists.”
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⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 1 of 16 claims Outlet record 61/100
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UK-Iranian man arrested over suspected Fairford airbase plot Different event
South China Morning Post
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“The articles describe different events: one about a UK-Iranian man arrested for a suspected terrorist plot at Fairford airbase, and another about three Iranians on trial for spying on dissident journalists.”
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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
10
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 10 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
66/100
The Straits Times's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-06 · 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 · 4126 article(s) · 5 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 5 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

The Straits Times
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 2665 articles by The Straits Times →

Topics

Britain Iran Iranian Iranians LONDON

Subjects

Iran GPE · 4× Iranian NORP · 4× Britain GPE · 2× Emlyn Jones PERSON · 2× LONDON GPE · 2× Sepahvand GPE · 2× British NORP · 1× Iran International ORG · 1× Iranians NORP · 1× Mostafa Sepahvand PERSON · 1×

Narrative

LONDON, Oct 6 - Three Iranian men spied on British-based dissident journalists on behalf of Iran's foreign intelligence service in order to attack them "as retribution for their criticism of the Iranian regime", prosecutors told a London jury on Tuesday.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-06
🔮 "Their ultimate objective was that one, perhaps more than one, of these targets would be subjected to serious violence, no doubt as retribution for their criticism of the Iranian regime and to try to silence and deter others," Emlyn Jones said.
2026-10-06 · The Straits Times
Three Iranians on trial in UK for spying on dissident journalists · assertive framing

Claims (10 extracted, 0 hedged)

Three Iranians on trial in UK for spying on dissident journalists asserted
Iranians → spy → journalists
LONDON, Oct 6 - Three Iranian men spied on British-based dissident journalists on behalf of Iran's foreign intelligence service in order to attack them "as retribution for their criticism of the Iranian regime", prosecutors told a London jury on Tuesday. asserted
prosecutors → spy → Tuesday
The trio are accused of surveilling 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 → accuse → August
Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 57, have each denied two charges under Britain's National Security Act, brought in to give the authorities new powers to target threats from foreign states. asserted
Sepahvand → deny → states
Their trial at Woolwich Crown Court began this week at time of growing tension between Britain and Iran, which prosecutors say has repeatedly targeted critics and dissidents both inside the Islamic Republic and abroad. asserted
prosecutors → begin → Republic
"Eliminating hostile or critical voices ... has effectively become a staple policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran," prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones told jurors. asserted
Jones → eliminate → jurors
He said the three defendants conducted research about at least two Iran International journalists, visiting addresses linked to them and taking photos and videos in preparation for an attack which Sepahvand was to carry out. asserted
Sepahvand → say → which
"Their ultimate objective was that one, perhaps more than one, of these targets would be subjected to serious violence, no doubt as retribution for their criticism of the Iranian regime and to try to silence and deter others," Emlyn Jones said. asserted
Jones → subject → others
He told the court the three defendants accepted going to places and taking photos and videos, but disputed why they had done so. asserted
they → tell → photos
Emlyn Jones said Manesh and Noori's case was that they did not know they were doing so to assist Iranian intelligence, while Sepahvand accepted he knew but had been "bullied or threatened into doing what he did". asserted
he → say → what
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