Mostafa Sepahvand

Mostafa Sepahvand is an Iranian national who entered the United Kingdom in 2016 concealed in a lorry and claimed asylum. In May 2025 he was arrested and charged by the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command alongside Farhad Javadi Manesh and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori under the National Security Act 2023 — the first Iranians charged under the legislation.

Sepahvand is accused of engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service, identified as Iran's Ministry of Intelligence, between 14 August 2024 and 16 February 2025. He faces an additional charge under Section 18(1)(a) of the Act for conducting surveillance, reconnaissance, and open-source research with the intention of committing serious violence against a person in the United Kingdom. The targets were journalists at Iran International, the London-based Farsi-language broadcaster that Iran has labelled a terrorist organisation.

All three defendants appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 17 May 2025 and were remanded in custody. A plea hearing is scheduled for 26 September 2026 and trial for 5 October 2026 at Woolwich Crown Court.