Two Iranian asylum seekers convicted over IRGC surveillance
Two Iranian asylum seekers, Mustafa Separvand and Farhad Manesh, have been convicted under the National Security Act of carrying out surveillance for Iran's IRGC on UK-based journalists and a lawyer.
How it was covered
- BBC One was the only channel found covering it, concentrating on the convictions, IRGC recruitment and the surveillance targets.
- Channel 5, BBC News, BBC Two, Channel 4, ITV and Sky News: not found in tracked broadcasts.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story. Facts only one channel reported are attributed to it.
Two Iranian asylum seekers have been convicted of carrying out surveillance in the UK for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, BBC News reported. Mustafa Separvand and Farhad Manesh, who were living in west London, were convicted of engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service, the BBC said.
The BBC's UK correspondent Daniel Sandford, who followed the trial, reported that Separvand arrived in the back of a lorry and Manesh in a small boat. BBC News reported that counterterrorism policing said the men were not sleeper agents but were recruited by the IRGC after they arrived in the UK.
BBC News reported that the men carried out surveillance on two journalists from Iran International, the opposition Persian-language television station. They also monitored a lawyer for UK Lawyers for Israel and a media production professional, according to the BBC. The IRGC sent detailed tasking documents that included photographs, addresses and even the names of their targets' pets, BBC News reported.
Messages and voice notes played to the jury showed one of the men complaining that he was not being paid, BBC News reported. At one point, he offered to finish off one of the targets for £150,000, the BBC said. The broadcaster said the pair are the first two Iranians to be convicted under the National Security Act.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| The men conducted surveillance on two Iran International journalists, a lawyer for UK Lawyers for Israel, and a media production professional. | |
| The two men were convicted of conductlikely to assist a foreign intelligence service. | |
| The two men were Iranian asylum seekers named Mustafa Separvand and Farhad Manesh. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The bulletin focused on the convictions and the trial evidence, with UK correspondent Daniel Sandford setting out how the men were recruited and what they were tasked to do. It stressed that counterterrorism policing described them as recruits after arrival rather than sleeper agents. It also highlighted the surveillance targets, the men's complaints about payment and the offer to finish off a target for £150,000.
- “the men were not sleeper agents, but were recruited by Iran's IRGC”
- “the men have been convicted of carrying out surveillance on two journalists from the opposition Persian language television station known as Iran International”
- “At one point he offered to finish off one of the targets for a hundred and fifty thousand pounds”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.