Two men are accused of carrying out “hostile surveillance” of Israeli and Jewish institutions in England, including on Britain’s oldest synagogue, on behalf of Iran’s intelligence service, according to charges presented at a court hearing on Thursday.
The men, who both hold Iranian citizenship, have been charged under Britain’s National Security Act with “engaging in conduct that is likely to assist a foreign intelligence service” between July 9 and Aug. 15 last year.
They appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London for an initial hearing at which they were not asked to enter pleas. A prosecutor, Louise Attrill, said that the men were accused of “assisting the Iranian intelligence service by conducting hostile surveillance of locations and individuals linked to the Israeli and Jewish community.”
The two men have been named as Nematollah Shahsavani, 40, a dual Iranian and British citizen, and Alireza Farasati, 22, an Iranian citizen living in North London.
Ms. Attrill said that Mr. Shahsavani had denied involvement with Iran’s intelligence service during a police interview. Alphege Bell, a lawyer representing Mr. Farasati, said that his client would deny the charges.
Ms. Attrill said that Mr. Shahsavani had a list of surveillance targets that included the Israeli Embassy and the Israeli Consulate in London, as well as the name and address of a woman with links to Iran and Israel.
Mr. Shahsavani is accused of instructing Mr. Farasati to carry out the surveillance and of sending him a “tasking list.”
The list included the Bevis Marks Synagogue, the oldest in continuous use in Britain; JW3, a Jewish community center in London; the offices of the Community Security Trust, an organization that monitors antisemitism; and the Sternberg Centre for Judaism, which hosts several Jewish institutions including a synagogue, a school and a rabbinical training college.
Mr. Shahsavani and Mr. Farasati were being held in custody ahead of an appearance at the Old Bailey, a central London court, that is scheduled for April 17.
Two other men who were arrested on March 6 as part of the same investigation were later released without charge, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We fully recognize that the public — and in particular the Jewish community — will be concerned,” Vicki Evans, Britain’s senior national coordinator of counterterrorism policing, said in a statement. “But I hope this investigation reassures them that we will not hesitate to take action if we identify there may be a threat to their safety, and will be relentless in our pursuit of those who may be responsible.”
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