Two Iranians who travelled to the UK illegally convicted of spying

Detailed summary

Thu, Nov 12, 2026 Two Iranian spies who travelled to the UK illegally are not part of a “sleeper cell” detectives believe. Mostafa Sepahvand, who arrived in the back of a lorry in…

Two Iranian spies who travelled to the UK illegally are not part of a “sleeper cell” detectives believe.

Mostafa Sepahvand, who arrived in the back of a lorry in 2016, and small boat arrival Farhad Manesh, “were promised rewards to send intelligence back to contacts in Iran," a court heard.

And the pair were convicted of gathering intelligence for Iran’s deadly Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Sepahvand was even prepared to attack journalists critical of the Iranian mullahs, with counter-terrorism detectives believing he was plotting a brutal knife attack.

But the revelations of two illegal migrants being convicted of spying for Iran has prompted fears Britain’s chaos was creating a national security crisis.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “I have said multiple times in and out of Parliament that Iranian spies were breaking into the country illegally.

“The crisis in the Channel is a national security threat. Why does no one listen?”

But Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP), said: “All three of these men were Iranian nationals who arrived in the country illegally between 2016 and 2022.

“They claimed asylum and have since been granted temporary leave to remain.

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