LONDON — Two men appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday charged with conducting surveillance of London's Jewish community on behalf of Iran. The defendants are Iranian-British national Nematollah Shahsavani, 40, and 22-year-old Iranian citizen Alireza Farasati.

The men are accused of engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service between July 9 and August 15, 2025. "They are suspected of assisting the Iranian intelligence service by conducting hostile surveillance of locations and individuals linked to the Israeli and Jewish community," said Louise Attrill, prosecution lawyer.

Surveillance targets included the Israeli embassy in London, a Jewish community center, a college, and Britain's oldest synagogue. The two men were charged under the National Security Act on suspicion of conducting reconnaissance of targets in London.

Neither defendant was asked to enter a plea during the hearing. Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring ordered both men to be detained until their next hearing at the Central Criminal Court in London on April 17, 2026.

The two men were arrested on March 6, 2026, and live in London. Two other British-Iranian nationals arrested as part of the same investigation were released without charge.

"The charge relates to carrying out activities in the UK such as gathering information and undertaking reconnaissance of targets," said Frank Ferguson, head of counterterrorism at the Crown Prosecution Service. Farasati's lawyer said he intends to fight the charge.

The charges came after an MI5 investigation. Ken McCallum said in October 2025 that more than 20 potentially lethal Iran-backed plots had been disrupted in the previous 12 months.