US sanctions Iranian shadow banking network

Defense barristers for defendants Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, indicated that they were likely to plead not guilty.

A formal plea hearing was set for September 26 and the trial for October 5, 2026 at the Woolwich Crown Court.

The men were arrested on May 3 and remain in custody. They are the first individuals from Iran to be charged under the UK’s National Security Act of 2023, which covers threats from hostile foreign states.

All three are accused of engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service, identified by police and the Home Secretary as Iran. The charges relate to alleged activities between August 2024 and February 2025.

Sepahvand is charged with carrying out “surveillance, reconnaissance and open-source research” with the intention of committing “serious violence” against a person in the United Kingdom. Javadi Manesh and Nouri are charged with “surveillance and reconnaissance” with the intention “that acts, namely serious violence against a person in the United Kingdom, would be committed by others”.

Alleged surveillance of individuals in the UK

The men are also charged with conducting surveillance and reconnaissance of individuals in the UK.

Their targets are allegedly journalists from Iran International, an independent Persian-language broadcaster and multilingual news outlet based in London.

Iran International has a broad following in Iran, despite government efforts to restrict internet and satellite signal access.

Government reaction

Following the announcement of the charges in May, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Iran must be held to account for its actions ... We will not tolerate growing state threats on our soil.”

The government would examine further steps to counter state-based threats to national security, she added.

All three men were granted Temporary Leave to Remain in the UK after entering illegally.

Sepahvand entered the country in 2016 in a lorry and claimed asylum.

Javadi Manesh arrived by small boat in 2019 and applied for asylum on religious grounds.

Noori's asylum application was rejected in 2024 and is currently under appeal.

Noori had previously sought asylum in Germany under a false identity, according to a report published by IranWire. The article said he entered Germany in 2019 using a fake Brazilian passport and claimed to be a political dissident.

His asylum case was rejected, including appeals, and he left the country in late 2022 before a final court ruling was issued.

“These hostile states are using organized crime groups to carry out violent and disruptive operations,” Jonathan Hall said, warning that such threats are much harder to conceptualize for the public compared to terrorism, but no less dangerous. “If you’re an intelligence officer, why would you not exploit divisions in the West?” he added.

Hall warned that while some operatives are “bunglers,” others have come alarmingly close to their targets.

His comments come amid a series of prosecutions involving state-linked threats.

In one trial, six Bulgarians were convicted of spying on behalf of Russian intelligence. In two separate operations on May 3, eight men, including seven Iranians, were arrested by the British counter-terrorism police. Three were later charged under the National Security Act for conduct 'likely to assist a foreign intelligence service.' The foreign state involved is Iran, police said.

Iran poses ‘unacceptable threat,’ UK minister says

Last month, UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper declared in parliament that “the Iranian regime poses an unacceptable threat to our domestic security, which cannot continue.”

“We will not tolerate growing state-backed threats on UK soil,” Cooper said. “The UK will not accept any Iranian state threat activity in the UK.”

Push to target Iran’s IRGC gains momentum

In response to the rising threats, Hall last month urged the government to expand its powers to target affiliates of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which he said poses a unique challenge. The Revolutionary Guards cannot be blacklisted the same way non-state actors are, Hall argued, but recommended a new mechanism — a Statutory Alert and Liability Threat (SALT) notice — to disrupt its networks and apply international stigma.

“It will allow the government to communicate decisive stigma... and put the IRGC on notice that its operations, minions, and influence networks are at greater risk of executive action,” his report said.

Over 550 UK lawmakers and peers signed a letter in early May calling for the full proscription of the IRGC as a terrorist group, intensifying political pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government to act.

The detentions span several provinces, including Kurdistan, Gilan, Fars, Qazvin, and Kermanshah, and involve both striking drivers and citizens accused of promoting the protests online or documenting blockades.

The strike began on May 22 in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, triggered by mounting frustrations over rising costs, falling freight rates, fuel restrictions, and lack of state support. The movement quickly spread, and the Alliance of Iran Truckers and Truck Drivers’ Unions (AITTD) now says drivers in at least 155 cities and towns are participating.

Those arrested include named individuals such as Farzad Rezaei, Zanko Rostami, Rezgar Moradi, Sediq Mohammadi, Ata Aziri, Alireza Faghfoori, and Shahab Darabi—who has reportedly been released. Authorities in Qazvin said nine people were detained for allegedly disrupting traffic and posting videos on social media. In some cases, state media aired what appeared to be forced confessions.

The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has called the strike “the largest labor protest in recent years,” citing it as evidence of growing discontent over the country’s deepening economic crisis.

Muhammad Pahlawan, 49, was arrested in January last year after US Navy forces boarded an unflagged dhow in the Arabian Sea and discovered ballistic missile parts, cruise missile components, and a warhead. The weapons were consistent with those used by the Houthis in attacks on commercial and military vessels.

Prosecutors said Pahlawan worked with two Iranian nationals linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to move arms from Iran to Yemen via ship-to-ship transfers off the Somali coast. He was convicted on multiple charges, including providing material support to terrorists and Iran’s weapons of mass destruction program.

Pahlawan is scheduled to be sentenced on September 22.

The shipments, expected to arrive in the coming months, could be used to produce hundreds of missiles, with some material likely to be transferred to Iranian-aligned groups such as the Houthis in Yemen, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The order was placed by an Iranian company through a Hong Kong-based firm. US officials estimate the material could support the production of up to 800 missiles. Iran has one of the region’s largest ballistic missile programs and has rejected any limits on its missile capabilities as part of nuclear talks.

US sanctions and growing concerns

The US has recently sanctioned multiple individuals and entities in Iran and China linked to missile propellant procurement. A State Department official told the Journal that Chinese support for Iran’s missile program and its regional allies remains a concern.

The shipments, expected to arrive in the coming months, could be used to produce hundreds of missiles, with some material likely to be transferred to Iranian-aligned groups such as the Houthis in Yemen, the report said.

The order was placed by an Iranian company through a Hong Kong-based firm. US officials estimate the material could support the production of up to 800 missiles. Iran has one of the region’s largest ballistic missile programs and has rejected any limits on its missile capabilities as part of nuclear talks.

The US has recently sanctioned multiple individuals and entities in Iran and China linked to missile propellant procurement. A State Department official told the Journal that Chinese support for Iran’s missile program and its regional allies remains a concern.

Previous shipments linked to missile fuel

The move follows earlier shipments of sodium perchlorate—used to manufacture ammonium perchlorate—also sent from China to Iran earlier this year, aboard two Iranian cargo vessels. According to Western officials cited by CNN, Financial Times, and the Associated Press, these shipments were bound for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and could fuel hundreds of mid-range missiles.

Explosion at Shahid Rajaei port still unexplained

In April, a deadly explosion occurred at Iran’s Shahid Rajaei port, where some of the imported materials were reportedly delivered. Iranian authorities have not confirmed the cause of the blast.

However, according to the private security firm Ambrey, the explosion was “reportedly the result of improper handling of a shipment of solid fuel intended for use in Iranian ballistic missiles.” Months later, officials have not publicly provided a detailed explanation.