Two men have appeared in a London court accused of conducting hostile surveillance of the United Kingdom’s Jewish community on behalf of Iran, Baltimore Chronicle with reference to the ABC. The defendants, 40-year-old Iranian-British national Nematollah Shahsavani and 22-year-old Iranian citizen Alireza Farasati, allegedly carried out activities likely to assist a foreign intelligence service between July 9 and August 15 of the previous year. Prosecutors stated that their surveillance targeted several sites including the Israeli embassy in London, a Jewish community center, a college, and Britain’s oldest synagogue.
During Thursday’s hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, prosecution lawyer Louise Attrill said the defendants “are suspected of assisting the Iranian intelligence service by conducting hostile surveillance of locations and individuals linked to the Israeli and Jewish community.” Neither Shahsavani nor Farasati were asked to enter a plea at the hearing. Farasati’s lawyer confirmed that he intends to contest the charges.
Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring instructed that both men remain in custody until their next scheduled appearance at London’s Central Criminal Court on April 17. Both defendants are residents of London and were arrested on March 6. Two additional British-Iranian nationals detained as part of the same investigation have since been released without charge.
Ken McCallum, director of MI5, Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, stated in October that more than 20 “potentially lethal Iran-backed plots” had been prevented over the prior twelve months, highlighting ongoing concerns about Iranian intelligence activities targeting the U.K.
Earlier we wrote that Pope Leo XIV Calls for Ceasefire in Iran After Deadly School Missile Strike