Arsenal’s Arteta claims Premier League to step from Guardiola’s shadow
Mikel Arteta brings Arsenal back to the top of English football after 22 years.
Al Jazeera English1 min read
London stabbing of journalist was by men working for Iran, court told
TL;DR
A journalist for Iran International was stabbed in Wimbledon by two men allegedly working for Iran. The attackers, George Stana and Nandito Badea, are on trial for the incident, which left the journalist hospitalized.
Key points
- Journalist Pouria Zeraati was stabbed in Wimbledon.
- Attackers are two Romanian men working for Iran.
- Zeraati was left hospitalized with three stab wounds.
- The attackers denied charges of grievous bodily harm.
- Posters of Zeraati were displayed in Tehran.
Mentioned in this story
Pouria ZeraatiGeorge StanaNandito BadeaIran InternationalTehranWimbledon
A journalist working for a Persian-language opposition television station was attacked with a knife in Wimbledon by men working for Iran as part of a campaign of "Iranian terror", a court was told.
Posters of Pouria Zeraati, a journalist for the London-based Iran International, had been put up in the Iranian capital Tehran with the words "Wanted: dead or alive".
Two Romanian men - George Stana, 25, and Nandito Badea, 21 - are on trial at Woolwich Crown Court, accused of attacking Zeraati in late March 2024, leaving him in hospital with three stab wounds in his leg.
Stana and Badea have both denied charges of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm, and unlawful wounding.
Badea is alleged to have wielded a knife in the attack, while Stana is said to have driven the Mazda used as a getaway car.
A third Romanian man, David Andrei, who is accused of holding Zeraati during the attack, is not on trial and is still in Romania.
Duncan Atkinson KC for the prosecution told the jury: "This was not a random assault, or a form of robbery. Rather it was a planned and targeted attack."
"A planned attack preceded by reconnaissance, and which was ordered by a third party acting on behalf of the Iranian state," he said.
Atkinson said that since 2005 "the Islamic Republic has turned less to its own operatives and increasingly to use proxies such as criminal gangs to meet their threatened violence on their behalf".
He said people in the UK had "become targets of Iranian intimidation and, effectively, of Iranian terror".
He said that in November 2022 posters had been put up in the Iranian capital Tehran which included a picture of Zeraati, under the heading "Wanted: dead or alive".
Zeraati's employer, Iran International, had also been designated by the Iranian government as a "terrorist organisation", the jury heard.
At one point in 2022 Iran International's offices in London were being protected by armed police.
The prosecution said reconnaissance of Zeraati began in March 2023 when Stana was stopped by police in a rear communal garden at Zeraati's address in Wimbledon, having flown in from Bucharest.
Officers found him wearing gloves and a blue surgical face mask, and with a pair of scissors in his pocket. An unidentified man with him appeared to be carrying some kind of sports bat in a bag. Stana left the UK for Romania soon afterwards.
On this trip, the prosecution said, Stana had been in touch with a contact called "Em" on WhatsApp about the reconnaissance. The messaging included discussions over whether to "poncher" (puncture) Zeraati's tyre.
Atkinson said that analysis of mobile phone mast data shows further reconnaissance was carried out by Badea and Andrei in February and March 2024, in the weeks before the knife attack.
The Mazda car used in the getaway was bought on 6 March 2024.
Q&A
Who attacked journalist Pouria Zeraati in London?
Pouria Zeraati was attacked by two Romanian men, George Stana and Nandito Badea, who are accused of working for Iran.
What were the charges against George Stana and Nandito Badea?
They are charged with wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm and unlawful wounding.
What happened to Pouria Zeraati after the stabbing?
He was hospitalized with three stab wounds in his leg following the attack.
What was the motive behind the attack on Zeraati?
The attack is part of a campaign of 'Iranian terror' against opposition figures, as indicated by posters labeling Zeraati as 'Wanted: dead or alive' in Tehran.
