UK police charge two men with spying on for Iran

British police have charged two men with spying on the UK’s Jewish community on behalf of Iran.

Iranian-British national Nematollah Shahsavani, 40, and 22-year-old Iranian citizen Alireza Farasati have been charged with engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service. Prosecutors said the country the charges relate to is Iran.

Frank Ferguson, head of counterterrorism at the Crown Prosecution Service, said the charge “relates to carrying out activities in the UK such as gathering information and undertaking reconnaissance of targets.” Both suspects live in London and are due to make their first court appearance at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. The men were arrested on March 6. Two other British-Iranian nationals were arrested that day as part of the same investigation.

The head of Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence service, Ken McCallum, said in October that more than 20 “potentially lethal Iran-backed plots” had been disrupted in the previous 12 months.