Iran's shadow operations stretch across Europe as chilling spy convictions expose Tehran's reach
Two Iranian men were convicted in Britain of spying on journalists and critics of Tehran, as France accuses the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of unprecedented cyberattacks and the UAE warns of Iranian sleeper cells operating abroad.
A jury at Woolwich Crown Court in London found Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, guilty of engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service after prosecutors said they carried out surveillance of journalists and other individuals critical of the Iranian government. The surveillance operation took place between August 2024 and March 2025 and involved visits to locations associated with the targets, photographs, videos and online research.
Sepahvand was also convicted of engaging in preparatory conduct with the intention of committing serious violence against a person in Britain, while Manesh was acquitted of that charge and a third defendant was cleared of all charges. British authorities described the case as the first convictions of Iranian nationals under the National Security Act of 2023, warning that the verdicts underscored an ongoing threat from Iranian intelligence operations.
Global Operations Exposed
Similar concerns have emerged in the United States, where the Justice Department announced terrorism charges against three alleged Iranian-backed operatives accused of involvement in nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks across Europe and the United States. The three men allegedly supported Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Kata'ib Hezbollah, targeting Jewish communities and plotting an attack on RAF Fairford, a British air base housing American military personnel.
In France, authorities accused Iran's IRGC of orchestrating a major cyberattack against the country's food supply infrastructure. Iranian-linked hackers targeted refrigeration controllers at approximately 700 retail locations across France on October 11 and 12, remotely altering defrost settings and causing significant food spoilage and at least 15 fire outbreaks.
The attack as unprecedented in its scale and aggression.
Regional Threats
Dr. Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, chairman of the Defense, Interior and Foreign Affairs Committee of the UAE's Federal National Council, told Fox News Digital that Iranian-linked sleeper cells were operating both within the region and elsewhere. He disclosed that hundreds of suspected Iranian sleeper-cell members had been arrested in the UAE, including individuals who helped direct Iranian missile and drone attacks against the country.
Al Nuaimi argued that negotiations with Tehran should address not only its nuclear program and regional proxies, but also covert networks operating in other countries. Iranian-American journalist Lisa Daftari described the personal toll of what she believes to be Iranian intelligence operations on U.S. soil, saying she had been followed in Los Angeles and New York, repeatedly hacked and approached in person.
The message they want to send is very clear, that we know where you are, we can reach you.
International Response
In a joint declaration issued following a meeting in Paris, G7 foreign ministers expressed grave concern about Iranian involvement in violent plots targeting people and territory in their countries. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Tehran of being responsible for much of the instability across the Middle East, stating they are behind all the instability in the region.
The G7 declaration pledged to continue coordinating economic and political measures designed to constrain Tehran's ability to destabilize countries both inside and outside the Middle East. While the British convictions, French cyberattack findings and UAE allegations involve different types of activity with no evidence of a single coordinated operation, together they illustrate the range of threats Western and Gulf authorities are attributing to Iran.
Related
