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UK Convicts Austrian National Over ‘Terror Plot’ Against Iran International

A handout image released by the Metropolitan Police Service shows the custody photograph of Austrian national Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev (AFP)
A handout image released by the Metropolitan Police Service shows the custody photograph of Austrian national Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev (AFP)
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UK Convicts Austrian National Over ‘Terror Plot’ Against Iran International

A handout image released by the Metropolitan Police Service shows the custody photograph of Austrian national Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev (AFP)
A handout image released by the Metropolitan Police Service shows the custody photograph of Austrian national Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev (AFP)

A British court has sentenced an Austrian born in Chechnya to three and a half years in prison, convicting him of carrying out "hostile reconnaissance" against a London-based Iranian television channel.

Last Wednesday, a jury in London convicted Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev following a brief trial.

Dovtaev, 31, pleaded not guilty to possession of records containing information likely to be helpful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

He was detained by counterterrorism officers in west London last Feb. 11.

The Public Prosecution said that Dovtaev went to London to gather "hostile information" in connection with a building housing the Persian-language channel Iran International, whose journalists report on human rights violations believed to be being committed in Iran.

Paul Kelleher, Dovtayev's defense attorney, said there was every possibility his client was a "useful idiot" and that claims Iran would contemplate a terrorist attack on a news organization in England were "far-fetched."

But Judge Richard Marks expressed his "satisfaction with the criminal standards of evidence that an attack of some sort on Iran International was the plan of those behind this."

Iran refuted the British media's false allegations about harming presenters and broadcasters.

Iranian Chargé d'Affaires in London Mehdi Hosseini Mateen denied the British media's accusations of an "alleged Iranian plot" to assassinate two international television broadcasters living in London.

Mehr News Agency reported on Friday that Mateen rejected the claims of ITV News, saying they were baseless and similar to a Hollywood movie.

ITV News previously published a report claiming that the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had contacted a human trafficker in Oct. 2022, offering $200,000 to assassinate two international broadcasters in London.

The Iranian Chargé d'Affaires said that the report claimed that the person hired was a double agent working with a Western intelligence organization and uncovered the plot.

Mateen added that regardless of the undeniable violent behaviors of the alleged London-based TV network against Iranian national security, Tehran is not linked to those who made these allegations.

The Iranian government classified Iran International as a terrorist organization based on its coverage of the protests that broke out in the country following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

Amini died in September 2022, three days after the morality police in Tehran arrested her. Her death sparked widespread protests against political and religious leaders in Iran.

The suppression of these protests led to the deaths of hundreds, and the authorities arrested thousands of people.

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US, Australia, Canada, Philippines Stage Naval and Air Force Maneuvers in Disputed South China Sea

Chinese Coast Guard vessels fire water cannons towards a Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 on its way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024. (Reuters)
Chinese Coast Guard vessels fire water cannons towards a Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 on its way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024. (Reuters)
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US, Australia, Canada, Philippines Stage Naval and Air Force Maneuvers in Disputed South China Sea

Chinese Coast Guard vessels fire water cannons towards a Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 on its way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024. (Reuters)
Chinese Coast Guard vessels fire water cannons towards a Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 on its way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024. (Reuters)

The United States, Australia, Canada and the Philippines held air and naval maneuvers Wednesday in a show of force in the disputed South China Sea, where China has increasingly asserted its territorial claims. In an apparent response, China said it conducted air and sea combat patrols on the same day.

Adm. Samuel Paparo, who heads the US Indo-Pacific Command, and top military and defense commanders from Australia, Canada and the Philippines said in a joint statement that they “stand together to address common maritime challenges and underscore our shared dedication to upholding international law and the rules-based order.”

They said they were staging the two-day exercises to uphold unhindered passage in the Indo-Pacific region.

China has long claimed much of the South China Sea, a key global trade and security route, and vowed to defend its territorial interests at all costs. Its claims overlap those of smaller coastal states, including the Philippines and Vietnam, hampering their access to traditional fishing areas and disrupting oil and gas exploration in their internationally recognized exclusive economic zones.

“The naval and air force units of participating nations will operate together, enhancing cooperation and interoperability between our armed forces,” the commanders said. “The activity will be conducted in a manner that is consistent with international law and with due regard to the safety of navigation and the rights and interests of other states.”

A Philippine military official said the navy ships and fighter jets would conduct anti-submarine warfare drills, combined sea passage maneuvers and communications checks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the release of specific details of the maneuvers.

China said it held joint sea and air combat patrols on Wednesday near Scarborough Shoal, a disputed territory in the South China Sea, in an apparent response to the exercises.

A short statement from the Chinese military’s Southern Theater Command indicated that it was aware of “military activities that disrupt the South China Sea” and that they were “under control.” China regularly accuses the US, the Philippines and others of undermining regional peace and stability though their military activities.

Paparo and the other military commanders, Adm. David Johnston of the Australian Defense Force, Gen. Jennie Carignan of the Canadian Armed Forces and Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said their countries “uphold the right to freedom of navigation and overflight, other lawful uses of the sea and international airspace, as well as respect for maritime rights under international law."

They did not mention China by name but said their nations affirm a 2016 arbitration ruling on the South China Sea disputes “as a final and legally binding decision on the parties to the dispute.” The ruling invalidated China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea, but Beijing refused to participate in the Philippines-initiated arbitration, rejected the decision and continues to defy it.

Hostilities in the disputed waters have flared particularly between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and naval forces at two disputed shoals since last year, renewing fears that the confrontations could degenerate into a larger armed conflict involving the United States, Manila’s longtime treaty ally.

After an alarmingly violent June 17 confrontation at Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, China and the Philippines reached a temporary agreement last month aimed at preventing further clashes.