An Iranian TV journalist stabbed in a ‘frightening’ attack outside his London home has sparked an investigation by counter-terrorism police.
Pouria Zeraati was ambushed by a knife-wielding assailant and stabbed in the leg on Friday, although his condition is not life-threatening and he is said to be ‘recovering well.’
The Met said in a statement the motivation for the attack was not yet clear, his occupation coupled with recent threats towards UK-based Iranian journalists meant the probe was being led by specialist counter-terrorism officers.
Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: ‘While we are keeping an open mind, given the occupation of the victim and our publicised concerns about the threat to employees of that organisation, the investigation is being led by the Counter Terrorism Command.
‘I must stress that, at this early stage of our investigation, we do not know the reason why this victim was attacked and there could be a number of explanations for this.
‘I appreciate the wider concern this incident may cause – particularly amongst others in similar lines of work, and those from Iranian communities.
‘Finally, I would urge anyone in the Wimbledon area who may have seen anything or anyone acting suspiciously today to get in touch with us.’
Iran International spokesman Adam Baillie said the knife attack was ‘hugely frightening’ and told BBC Radio 4’s Today: ‘It was a shocking, shocking incident, whatever the outcome of an investigation reveals.
‘But for him as a leading presenter, as with our other presenters and journalists, yes, it is a great shock. It’s the first attack of its kind.’
Since 2022, a number of plots to either kidnap or kill British or UK-based individuals perceived as enemies of the Iranian regime have been disrupted by police, including two other Iran International journalists.
Asked what he believed lay behind the attack, Mr Baillie said: ‘We can’t say. The fact that counter-terrorism is leading the investigation probably speaks for itself.
‘Along with our colleagues at BBC Persian, Iran International has been under threat, very heavy threats, for the last 18 months since the IRGC said “we’re coming for you”, which they have consistently repeated.’
He said the IRGC ‘get in touch through proxies, they don’t leave a paper trail’.
‘No one’s going to call up from the IRGC and go “hey, it’s us”, but families have been taken in for questioning, and threatened.’
He added: ‘The scale of that has increased dramatically over the last few months. And the scale and the type of questioning is more aggressive, “tell your relatives to stop working for this channel” and so on.’
Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, called the incident a ‘cowardly attack’ and ‘deeply shocking’.
She said: ‘Our thoughts are with him, his family and all of his colleagues at Iran International. We hope he makes a swift recovery.
‘It is too early to know whether this violent assault is connected to the escalating intimidation and harassment by Iran, including the plot to assassinate journalists Fardad Farahzad and Sima Sabet in 2022.
‘However, this brutal stabbing will inevitably raise fears amongst the many journalists targeted at Iran International and the BBC Persian Service that they are not safe at home or going about their work.’
Ms Stanistreet added: ‘The NUJ sends its collective best wishes to Pouria and hopes he has a swift and full recovery.
‘We will continue to liaise with the Metropolitan Police and the National Committee for the Safety of Journalists, as part of our wider work to stamp out the harassment and targeting of journalists.’
Earlier this month, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron condemned Iran’s reported conviction of BBC Persian journalists, calling it ‘unacceptable’.
He said: ‘Documents published online suggest that 10 BBC Persian staff have been tried and convicted in Iran in absentia of propaganda against the Islamic Republic.
‘I think this is completely unacceptable behaviour. We do raise these issues with our Iranian counterparts.
‘And also, when I last met the Iranian foreign minister, I raised the case of the fact that Iran was paying thugs to try and murder Iranian journalists providing free and independent information for Iran TV in Britain.
‘On both counts, in my view, they are guilty.’
Ms Stanistreet added: ‘The systematic targeting of journalists, simply for doing their jobs, has to stop. The international community needs to up the pressure on Iran and the UN needs to hold Iran accountable for its actions.’
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