London stabbing of journalist was by men working for Iran, court told

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Iranian journalist stabbed in UK by men working for Iran, court told 6 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleDaniel SandfordUK correspondentReutersNandito Badea, 21, and George Stana, 25, as sketched at Woolwich Crown CourtA 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.

The Details

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".

@pouriazeraatiPouria Zeraati after the attack in March 2024Zeraati'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.

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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.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.