Trial date set for three Iranian nationals charged with spying offences
The three men all arrived in the UK by irregular means, including by small boats and a lorry, between 2016 and 2022.
Sepahvand, of St John's Wood, Manesh, of Brent, and Noori, of Ealing, appeared at court by video link and spoke through a Farsi interpreter to confirm their identities.
They are all charged with engaging in conduct likely to assist the Iranian foreign intelligence service between August 14 2024 and February 16 2025.
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 defendants were remanded in custody and told by Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb that a plea hearing will take place on September 26, and a provisional trial date has been set for October 5 2026.
The three men were arrested on May 3, and five Iranian nationals were also arrested on that day in connection with an entirely separate investigation, with four of them remaining in custody after warrants of further detention were secured.
The four – 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 arrested on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act, contrary to section five of the Terrorism Act 2006.
A 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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
8 hours ago
- Telegraph
Israel launches air strikes on Yemen to target Houthi leaders
Israel has launched air strikes on Yemen, targeting a power station where Houthi leaders were gathered. The Israeli military said it attacked energy infrastructure belonging to the Houthi rebels more than 1,000 miles away from Tel Aviv. The attack came in response to the Houthi rebels' repeated ballistic missile and drone attacks against Israel, the first of which were launched in solidarity with Hamas in October 2023. The IDF said that the Houthi 'terrorist regime' operates under the direction and funding of the Iranian regime, to 'harm Israel and its allies'. 'The terrorist regime exploits the maritime domain to project force and carry out terror activity against global shipping and trade routes,' the army added. Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said explosions were heard at the Haiz power plant near the capital of Sanaa, but fell short of blaming Israel. Local reports suggest that Houthi leaders were inside the plant's control room when it was struck by missiles. Power went and a fire broke out. It is understood that the Israeli navy carried out the operation. Israel has launched several large-scale attacks on Houthi-controlled targets since July last year, including the al-Hudaydah Port, the international airport in Sanaa, as well as energy infrastructure. The Houthis began attacking shipping in the Red Sea in October 2023, in what they said was a response to Israel's attack on Gaza following the Oct 7 terror attacks. They have vowed to continue their campaign until the war in Gaza is over, which dragged Western nations – led by the US – into the conflict. The coalition, which includes the UK, launched dozens of attacks against the Houthis before the US struck a ceasefire with the group in May. However, the Houthis continued their attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea last month, sinking the Liberia-flagged Eternity C. Four crew members died in the assault, while around a dozen were taken hostage. One sailor lost a leg, according to the European Union's naval operation in the Red Sea. A few days earlier the group attacked a Greek-operated vessel, the Magic Seas. Israel has long accused Iran of directly funding the Houthis while supplying it with ballistic missiles. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that a major shipment of Iranian-made missiles, drone components, and other military equipment destined for the Houthis was intercepted by Yemen's internationally recognised government. The seizure, described by US officials as one of the largest ever, raised fresh concerns that Tehran is pushing ahead with efforts to reinforce its allies and destabilise the region despite its diminished position. US Central Command said the Houthi-bound shipment contained 750 tonnes of weaponry, including cruise missiles, anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles, warheads and drone engines.
Spectator
11 hours ago
- Spectator
How Ireland became a haven for Hezbollah's cocaine
In the end, it was a combination of the Irish weather, European maritime intelligence and engine trouble that scuppered a massive Hezbollah-cartel drugs shipment. The Irish government's failure to patrol the coastline has made Ireland a safe harbour for the fast-evolving drug trafficking network merging terror and narco finance. Hezbollah's involvement in the transnational drugs trade to fund its war against Israel is well documented, with the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam its main conduit into Europe. But evidence from an Irish court last month revealing 'a major Iranian nexus' in a cocaine ship off Ireland's coast indicates that Hezbollah now sees Ireland's under patrolled coastline as a 'point of least resistance' into the lucrative European market. One security expert is reported as saying Ireland was being targeted for 'tonnage loads by Iranian Hezbollah.' In September 2023, a Panamanian registered cargo ship, MV Matthew, set sail from Venezuela heading for Irish waters. It had 2.2 tonnes of pure cocaine on board, funded by an alliance of Hezbollah, the Dubai-based Irish Kinahan crime gang and a South American cartel. The ship was to rendezvous at sea with a fishing trawler, the Castlemore, which would drop the drugs ashore at isolated coves for onward transport to the UK and Europe. Unknown to the Iranian captain, Soheil Jelveh, the European Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre (MAOC), was tracking the ship across the Atlantic and tipped off the Irish authorities. But with just one large vessel to actively patrol a coastline ten times the size of Ireland's land mass and depleted navy personnel, monitoring and intercepting both ships was always going to be challenging. So many things could have gone wrong. Luckily, the Irish weather lent a hand. A raging storm hit Ireland the day the Castlemore was due to rendezvous with MV Matthew anchored 13 nautical miles off the east coast. After two failed attempts in storm force winds and swelling seas, the Castlemore ran aground. Its crew put in a distress call to the Irish coastguard, setting a train of action in motion. The eventual capture of the Matthew was like a scene from an action movie. Over the course of two days the ship played a game of cat and mouse with the Navy ship, LE William Butler Yeats, engaging in evasive manoeuvres in lashing winds and swelling seas. The Iranian captain, Soheil Jelveh refused to comply with orders from the Yeats, saying the ship had developed engine trouble. In reality, he was receiving orders from a Dubai-based individual, 'Captain Noah,' a shadowy figure linked to Hezbollah, to change course and head for Sierra Leone. The Matthew was successfully captured after Army Rangers were lowered onto the deck from a rope suspended by a helicopter hovering overhead and the ship was stormed. The 2.2 tonnes of pure cocaine was valued at £136 million, rising to £650 million when cut, making it the largest drugs seizure in the history of the state. Jelveh, Iranian crewman, Saeid Hassani, and six other crewmen were jailed for a total of 129 years at the non-jury Special Criminal Court last month. It was a stunning success for the defence forces, thanks to the skill and bravery of the individual members involved. But it could have gone badly wrong. Just two of eight Irish navy vessels are currently in operation; the rest are tied up at Cork harbour because of insufficient personal. A former officer in the Army Ranger Wing, Cathal Berry, has said: 'By not resourcing our Navy we have handed the keys of the country over to the drugs cartels to do with us as they wish. It is painful to see €250 million of naval vessels tied up at Cork Harbour unable to be put at sea due to a lack of crew.' Irish and international law agencies are now examining the ship's telecommunication equipment to access the extent of the Iranian-Hezbollah involvement. There is little doubt Hezbollah is trying to increase its drug activity because it is under financial pressure. As one international law enforcement official put it: 'When you are getting hit the way Hezbollah is getting hit right now by the Israelis, the only way you can make money exponentially fast is with drugs.' It is extremely unlikely that the Hezbollah-cartel alliance would have risked such a massive investment on the first run. It is a safe bet that Matthew was not the first or the last shipment to use Ireland as a gateway to the lucrative European market. Former head of MAOC, Michael O'Sullivan, said: 'The Irish Navy is very strapped and that has not gone unnoticed. We cover an area almost ten times the size of Ireland. And time is of the essence. If you find where a vessel has left and you're trying to track where it is, it's not gonna stay in one place, it's not going to go in the one direction… You have got to get somebody out there to get a sighting of it. If you don't find it, it's gone.' The implication is clear: Ireland is not just a strategic waypoint, but an exposed hub in a fast-evolving trafficking network merging terror and narco finance for which the depleted Irish Navy is ill equipped to deal with.
Economist
3 days ago
- Economist
Lebanon's government is taking on a weakened Hizbullah
Last week Lebanese soldiers retrieved the bodies of six of their comrades from the smouldering ruins of an arms depot near the Israeli border. It was the army's deadliest day since the country was drawn into a regional war on October 8th 2023. But they were not killed by enemy fire. They died attempting to secure a cache of weapons believed to belong to Hizbullah, the Iranian-backed militia that has dominated Lebanon for years.
