The spy network you can’t see: Iran's agents in the West

Three Iranian men appeared in court in London on Friday accused of assisting Iran's foreign intelligence service and plotting violence against journalists working for a British-based broadcaster critical of Tehran.

The three men - Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, - have been charged with offences under Britain's National Security Act, brought in to give the authorities new powers to target threats from foreign states.

They are accused of "engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service" between August 2024 and February this year, and police have said that it related to Iran.

Sepahvand is also charged with carrying out surveillance in preparation to commit serious violence against a person, while Manesh and Noori were charged with surveillance with the intention that serious violent acts would be committed by others.

The men appeared by videolink on Friday for a brief hearing at London's Old Bailey court during which their lawyers said all intended to plead not guilty to the charges.

Prosecutors told a hearing last month that the allegations involved the targeting of journalists based in Britain connected with Iran International, a broadcaster critical of the Iranian government.

They were remanded in custody until a formal plea hearing on September 26 and they are due to go on trial in October next year.

The suspects were arrested last month on the same day counter-terrorism police detained five other men, including four Iranians, as part of a separate operation. Those men were later released without charge.