London trial: two men guilty of spying for Iran on UK journalists
Two Iranian asylum seekers living in west London have been convicted at Woolwich Crown Court of assisting Tehran's intelligence services to target UK-based journalists.
Two Iranian asylum seekers have been convicted at Woolwich Crown Court in London of assisting a foreign intelligence service by plotting attacks against UK-based journalists. Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, were found guilty on Thursday following a counter-terrorism investigation.
According to the police, the pair were directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to monitor targets including two journalists at London-based broadcaster Iran International and a British lawyer. Officers seized 534 gigabytes of data detailing the victims' movements, vehicles and workplaces, which the defendants researched using ChatGPT.
The men, who lived in west London after arriving in the UK via lorry and small boat, had temporary leave to remain. Senior counter-terrorism coordinator Vicki Evans confirmed this was the first state threat trial in Britain where ChatGPT search history was submitted as court evidence.
Source: BBC London
