Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori

Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori is an Iranian national whose UK asylum application was rejected in 2024 and is under appeal. He had previously sought asylum in Germany in 2019 using a false Brazilian passport and a false identity, claiming to be a political dissident. In May 2025 he was arrested and charged alongside Mostafa Sepahvand and Farhad Javadi Manesh under the National Security Act 2023.

Qalehali Khani Noori 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)(b) for conducting surveillance and reconnaissance with the intention that serious violence would be committed by others against a person in the United Kingdom. The targets were journalists at Iran International, the London-based Farsi-language broadcaster.

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.