Iranian ambassador summoned to Foreign Office after three men charged with spying offences

19 May 2025, 18:58

Tehran's ambassador to the UK has been summoned to the Foreign Office after three Iranian nationals were charged with spying offences.

The UK Government's response comes after Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, were remanded in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Saturday charged with offences under the National Security Act.

They are all charged with engaging in conduct likely to assist the Iranian foreign intelligence service between August 14 2024 and February 16 2025.

On Monday, a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman said: "Today, upon instruction from the Foreign Secretary, the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Kingdom was summoned to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

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"His Excellency Seyed Ali Mousavi was summoned in response to three Iranian nationals charged under the National Security Act.

"The UK Government is clear that protecting national security remains our top priority and Iran must be held accountable for its actions.

"The summons follows this weekend's announcement which stated that three Iranian nationals had been charged with engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service."

On Sunday, Iran summoned the British charge d'affaires in protest at what officials described as the "illegal and unjustified" detention of the country's nationals.

Iran's state-run news agency IRNA reported that Tehran said the detention was a violation of international law and politically motivated.

The three men all arrived in the UK by irregular means, including by small boats and a lorry, between 2016 and 2022, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard.

Sepahvand is also charged with engaging in surveillance, reconnaissance and open-source research, intending to commit acts, namely serious violence against a person in the UK.

Manesh and Noori are further charged with engaging in surveillance and reconnaissance, with the intention that acts, namely serious violence against a person in the UK, would be committed by others.

The trio will next appear for a preliminary hearing at the Old Bailey on June 6.

The three men were arrested on May 3, when five other Iranian nationals were also arrested in connection with a separate terrorism investigation into an alleged plot reportedly targeting the Israeli embassy.

Four of the five - a 29-year-old man in the Swindon area; a 46-year-old man in west London; a 29-year-old man in the Stockport area; and a 40-year-old man in the Rochdale area - were held on suspicion of the preparation of a terrorist act before they were released from custody on Saturday.

The fifth, a 24-year-old man in the Manchester area, was detained under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act before being bailed with conditions to an unspecified date in May.