Romanians stabbed Iranian journalist in London at behest of Tehran, UK court told |
LONDON (Reuters) — A team of Romanian men, acting as proxies for the Iranian government, carried out a knife attack on a journalist working for a Persian-language media organization in London, prosecutors told a British court on Monday.
Pouria Zaratifoukolaei, known as Pouria Zeraati, a British journalist of Iranian origin who works for Iran International, was stabbed in the leg three times in an attack near his home in Wimbledon, southwest London, in March 2024.
At the start of the trial of two of the three men accused of carrying out the stabbing, prosecutor Duncan Atkinson said they had targeted Zeraati, whose Saudi-funded TV employer is critical of Iran’s government and has been designated a terrorist organization by Tehran.
“This was no robbery, no fight that got out of control. It was deliberate, planned violence to achieve what it did, that is, serious injury to its target,” Atkinson told London’s Woolwich Crown Court.
They “committed a planned attack preceded by reconnaissance, and which was ordered by a third party acting on behalf of the Iranian state,” the prosecutor said.
Iran denied any involvement in the incident.
Nandito Badea, 21, and George Stana, 25, both deny charges of wounding with intent and unlawful wounding. The third man accused of involvement, David Andrei, was arrested in Romania, but is not........