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2 men charged with spying for Iran on UK Jewish targets
The men are accused of spying on targets given to them by Iran, including the Israeli embassy and Britain’s oldest synagogue
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Two men appeared in a London court on Thursday accused of being tasked by Iran to carry out hostile surveillance on the Israeli embassy, Britain’s oldest synagogue and other Jewish targets.
Nematollah Shahsavani, 40, a dual Iranian-British national, and Alireza Farasati, an Iranian national, 22, are accused of being involved in gathering information and undertaking reconnaissance of targets given to them by Iranian spy services over five weeks last summer.
As such, the alleged activities predated the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran, which began on February 28.
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Prosecutor Louise Attrill told London’s Westminster Magistrates Court that devices seized from the two men had contained a list of targets.
These included the Israeli embassy, the Israeli consulate, London’s Bevis Marks synagogue, a Jewish community centre and the Community Security Trust, a charity which provides security advice for the country’s Jews.
Attrill said the evidence suggested Shahsavani, who had travelled to Iran last April and was stopped under counterterrorism powers when he returned to Britain in August, had been given instructions by Iranian intelligence services, and he had tasked Farasati to carry out the surveillance.
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