Staff Reports
Two men have been found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court of spying for Iran. The verdict should jolt anyone who still believes our southern border is merely a migration problem — it is a national security problem.
Verdict at Woolwich: Spies Convicted Under the National Security Act
Mostafa Sepahvand and Farhad Javadi Manesh were convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act 2023. Prosecutors showed evidence that the pair carried out surveillance on journalists and a lawyer in Britain and passed material back to Iran. Sentencing is set for 17 December 2026, giving the judge a chance to send a clear message about hostile-state activity on our soil.
How They Got In and What They Did
Court reporting says Sepahvand entered the UK concealed in a lorry in 2016 and Manesh arrived on a small migrant boat in 2019. Once here, they photographed and trailed targets at Iran International, a London broadcaster critical of Tehran, and monitored at least one UK lawyer. Digital evidence — photos, messages, location data and voice notes — showed the work was more than idle curiosity. Prosecutors say Sepahvand even discussed payment and offered to “finish off” a named target for cash.
Why This Case Matters to National Security
Senior prosecutors and counter‑terrorism police called the operation a deliberate effort by Iranian intelligence to use proxies in the UK. Frank Ferguson of the Crown Prosecution Service and Vicki Evans of Counter Terrorism Policing highlighted a pattern of hostile‑state activity that uses recruits and cash, not ideology, to get results. MI5 has also warned about rising state threats — which means this conviction is not an isolated scare story, it’s a peek at a real and growing problem.
Time To Stop Treating the Channel Like a Welcome Mat
Nigel Farage and others are right to warn that uncontrolled Channel crossings are a security gap. Call it migration, call it asylum — if hostile actors can slip in among small boats and lorry hides, the risk is obvious. The government has powers now under the National Security Act 2023, and law enforcement has shown it can use them. What’s missing is the political will to lock down the routes that let proxies get here in the first place.
This conviction should restart the debate in Parliament: more resources for counter‑espionage, tougher border controls, and a proper check on anyone arriving by clandestine routes. Britain can be both a safe haven and a sovereign state that stops foreign intelligence from using our freedoms as cover. Let’s not wait for another wake‑up call before acting.
