Two convicted over London stabbing of Iranian dissident journalist
Two Romanians were convicted on Friday over the stabbing of an Iranian journalist outside his home in London in a 2024 attack that prosecutors linked to Tehran.
Nandito Badea, 21, and George Stana, 25, were found guilty of wounding with intent for the stabbing of Pouria Zeraati, a news presenter for Persian-language outlet Iran International.
The attack was “designed to silence a journalist through intimidation and violence,” the British prosecution service’s anti-terrorism chief Frank Ferguson said after the verdict at Woolwich Crown Court.
Prosecutors argued during the trial that the attack was a proxy operation linked to the Iranian state and the victim was targeted because of his work as a journalist, though Iran denied any involvement.
The pair will be sentenced on July 3, when the judge could comment on the possible role of Iran in the attack.
Zeraati needed emergency treatment after he was stabbed several times in the leg outside his home in Wimbledon, southwest London.
But he returned to work at the dissident broadcaster the following month, insisting that “the show must go on.”
The defendants waited for Zeraati and “acted........
