Vahid Aberi appears in court on spying charges allegedly linked to Iran

A man has appeared in court accused of offering his skills to a contact he believed to represent the Iranian authorities. Vahid Aberi, 39, from Liverpool, has been charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service relating to Iran after an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing. Aberi, who has been charged with the National Security Act offence, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court earlier and spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth. The dual British/Iranian national has been accused of engaging in conduct between 17 December 2025 and 16 July 2026, intending that conduct to materially assist a foreign intelligence service in carrying out UK-related activities. The alleged conduct includes offering his skills to a contact he believed to represent the Iranian authorities, picking up a phone in London and identifying possible storage locations for his contact. He is also alleged to have travelled to London to secure a bag of material from his contact, picked up a bag from a luggage storage point in Marble Arch, agreed to store a bag on behalf of his contact and allegedly provided a contingency plan to his contact to allow for the retrieval of the bag. Chief Mag