Two men have been charged under national security laws on suspicion of conducting reconnaissance of targets in London for the Iranian intelligence agencies, prosecutors say.
Two men arrested earlier this month in London on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service have now been charged and appeared before a Westminster court today, London counter terrorism police and the Crown Prosecution Service have said.
Dual Iranian-UK national Nematollah Shahsavani, who is 40 years old and lives in North Finchley in north London, and Iranian national Alireza Farasati, who is 22-years-old and lives in Edgware, central London, have both been charged with engaging in conduct that is likely to assist a foreign intelligence service contrary to section 3 of the National Security Act, 2023.
A spokesman for the Criminal Prosecution Service said of the decision to charge that the men are suspected of “gathering information and undertaking reconnaissance of targets” for Iran. They said prosecutors believe the men would have “reasonably known” that “their conduct was likely to materially assist a foreign intelligence service in carrying out UK-related activities, contrary to section 3 (2) National Security Act 2023.”
London’s Metropolitan Police called the charges “extremely serious” and said they followed “a very complex investigation”.
The Times of Israel states Westminster Magistrates Court heard on Thursday that the two men allegedly spied on targets in London last summer on the orders of Iran’s intelligence service. The prosecutor reportedly told the court devices seized from the men contained a list of places they were to surveil, and this allegedly included Israel’s London embassy and consulate, Britain’s oldest synagogue, and a community centre.
The Community Security Trust, a prominent Jewish charity that works to “protect British Jews from terrorism and antisemitism”, and a woman living in Colchester were also to be targeted, it was claimed in court.
Shahsavani and Farasati were remanded into custody and will appear before the Old Bailey Central Criminal Court again on April 17th.
The two men were arrested on March sixth. Breitbart News reported at the time that ten people in all were arrested in raids that day, four in relation to spying and a further six on suspicion of assisting an offender. Police said the others have been released without charge.
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