UK court convicts 2 Iranian men of spying on journalists

A London court has found two Iranian citizens guilty of surveilling reporters for a Persian-language television station critical of Iran's goverment. One was also convicted of planning a violent attack against them.

Two Iranian men were found guilty of spying in dissident journalists in Britain on behalf of Iran's Revolutionary Guard on Thursday. The Woolwich Crown Court in London convicted one of the Iranian citizens not just of spying on journalists working for the Persian-language dissident TV channel Iran International, but of plotting a violent attack against one or more of them.

One of the convicted defendants said he was acting under duress after his family was threatened, and the other said he did not know that his actions were assisting Iranian intelligence. The men were accused of engaging in conduct likely to assist the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran's multi-discipline military force that's seen as closer to the country's religious leadership and more influential than its regular armed forces.