Stabbed Iran TV journalist posts defiant picture from his hospital bed
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An Iranian journalist stabbed who was stabbed outside his London home after his TV station received 'heavy threats' has shared a defiant picture from his hospital bed - as neighbours have said his attackers 'laughed' after the horrific assault.
Pouria Zeraati was targeted by a two-man team who escaped the scene in Wimbledon in a waiting car, counter terror police investigating the attack have said.
The prominent dissident journalist, who works for the Iran International TV channel, has been repeatedly targeted by Tehran as the media organisation is openly critical of the government's regime.
It is believed his attackers were either agents working directly for the Iranian government or a criminal gang hired by Tehran targeted Mr Zeraati, who hosts the high-profile Last Word show in London.
According to The Times, initial indications suggest one of the gang asked Zeraati for cash and then held him in a bear hug while the second operative approached and stabbed the opposition journalist in the leg at 2.49pm yesterday.
The 36-year-old journalist was rushed to hospital, where he is in a stable condition. He is said to be doing 'very well' and has since shared a picture on Instagram, reassuring his followers with a brave smile as he holds up a peace sign.
The 36-year-old journalist was rushed to hospital, where he is in a stable condition. He has since shared a defiant Instagram post from his hospital bed
Pouria Zeraati, right, works for the Iran International TV channel which is opposed to the Tehran regime
He was targeted as he left his house in Wimbledon, south west London yesterday afternoon
A neighbour who was walking with a friend down Queensmere Road, where the attack took place, and witnessed the aftermath, has told the Evening Standard that they saw the alleged assailants flee the scene.
He said: 'It's a very quiet suburban road and we saw two young men sprinting towards us, about 20 yards away and then got into a car. They sped off.
'It felt odd. The two men were laughing, quite clearly laughing. I looked two of them in the eye - they were no more than a cricket pitch length away from me.'
He said they took down the number plate seconds before they came across a man who was trying to flag them down in need of assistance.
'We tried to give first aid and take his jeans off. He had been stabbed, I think four times. He had his jeans on and he had a pool of blood on his leg. It was [awful] to see.'
The unnamed neighbour, who does not know Mr Zeraati personally, went on to say that the stabbing was 'really out of character for the area,' and that he believed 'It was targeted, not a random attack.'
In December, it was revealed that Iranian officials plotted to kill two of Zeraati's colleagues, Sima Sabet and Fardad Farahzad.
Ex-BBC journalist Ms Sabet said that following the attack on Mr Zeraati, police warned her to leave her home.
'The Metropolitan Police's Counter-Terrorism Unit last night urged me to immediately leave my residence following a knife attack on [Mr Zeraati], and stay elsewhere until further notice,' she posted on X today.
She described the attack on Mr Zeraati as a 'serious warning and an extremely troubling act for all journalists and opponents of the Islamic Republic in Britain and other Western countries'.
Speaking to the BBC today, she said she was 'outraged' by the attack and slammed the government, suggesting it was not taking the threat 'seriously'.
'We should feel safe, this is our country, this is our home, we are UK nationals being threatened at our home,' she said.
'If the UK government were taking this seriously, if the UK government had met with me... we have to have a channel of being communicated to, being heard by the government.'
As the threat to Ms Sabet and her colleague came to light at the end of last year, Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev was jailed for spying on journalists at Iran International on behalf of Tehran.
The station today admitted they have been regularly targeted by Iran's revolutionary guards.
Iran International spokesman Adam Baillie said the incident was 'hugely frightening' but Mr Zeraati was 'doing very well' and recovering in hospital.
Iran had previously planned to murder Sima Sabet, pictured who also works for the dissident TV station
The London-based dissident channel aims to provide independent coverage of Iran, but the Tehran regime has declared it a terrorist organisation.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has been targeting journalists and their families, Mr Baillie said.
Iran's charge d'affaires in the UK Mehdi Hosseini Matin said 'we deny any link' to the incident.
Mr Baillie told BBC Radio 4's Today: '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.'
Fellow reporter Fardad Farahzad had previously been targeted by Tehran
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.'
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.
'While we continue to assess the circumstances of this incident, detectives are following a number of lines of inquiry and our priority at this time is to try and identify whoever was behind this attack and to arrest them.
'I appreciate the wider concern this incident may cause - particularly amongst others in similar lines of work, and those from Iranian communities.
Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev, pictured at Gatwick Airport, had been spying on journalists at Iran International on behalf of Tehran
'We continue to work closely with the victim's organisation and as a precaution we'll have additional patrols in the Wimbledon area as well as other sites around London to provide reassurance over the coming days to those affected and concerned.
'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.'
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, it is understood.
Mohammed Ansari and Muhammed Abd al-Razek Kanafani, who are members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were sanctioned over threats to kill two of Mr Zeraati's colleagues based at Iran International's studio in Chiswick, West London.
Dovataev, 31, was jailed in December 2023 having been convicted at the Old Bailey
The pair wanted to arranged the assassinations of Mr Farahzad and Ms Sabet. An earlier iteration of the plan involved a car bomb.
The Iranian agents wanted a people smuggler to carry out the assassinations.
Anyone with information should contact police by calling 0800 789 321.
Iran International English posted on X, formerly Twitter, saying: 'Iran International's journalist @pouriazeraati has been attacked with a knife outside his house in London.
'He has sustained injuries but is in a stable condition. The matter is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police.
'The attack comes after the Iranian regime's 2022 plot to kill two @IranIntl television anchors @Sima-Sabet and @FardadFarahzad.'
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, reformas en zaragoza 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.'
InstagramWimbledonLondonIran
Read more:
Terror police investigate stabbing of Iranian journalist in London
Iranian journalist shares defiant photo from hospital bed after being stabbed outside London home | Evening Standard
Pouria Zeraati was targeted by a two-man team who escaped the scene in Wimbledon in a waiting car, counter terror police investigating the attack have said.
The prominent dissident journalist, who works for the Iran International TV channel, has been repeatedly targeted by Tehran as the media organisation is openly critical of the government's regime.
It is believed his attackers were either agents working directly for the Iranian government or a criminal gang hired by Tehran targeted Mr Zeraati, who hosts the high-profile Last Word show in London.
According to The Times, initial indications suggest one of the gang asked Zeraati for cash and then held him in a bear hug while the second operative approached and stabbed the opposition journalist in the leg at 2.49pm yesterday.
The 36-year-old journalist was rushed to hospital, where he is in a stable condition. He is said to be doing 'very well' and has since shared a picture on Instagram, reassuring his followers with a brave smile as he holds up a peace sign.
The 36-year-old journalist was rushed to hospital, where he is in a stable condition. He has since shared a defiant Instagram post from his hospital bed
Pouria Zeraati, right, works for the Iran International TV channel which is opposed to the Tehran regime
He was targeted as he left his house in Wimbledon, south west London yesterday afternoon
A neighbour who was walking with a friend down Queensmere Road, where the attack took place, and witnessed the aftermath, has told the Evening Standard that they saw the alleged assailants flee the scene.
He said: 'It's a very quiet suburban road and we saw two young men sprinting towards us, about 20 yards away and then got into a car. They sped off.
'It felt odd. The two men were laughing, quite clearly laughing. I looked two of them in the eye - they were no more than a cricket pitch length away from me.'
He said they took down the number plate seconds before they came across a man who was trying to flag them down in need of assistance.
'We tried to give first aid and take his jeans off. He had been stabbed, I think four times. He had his jeans on and he had a pool of blood on his leg. It was [awful] to see.'
The unnamed neighbour, who does not know Mr Zeraati personally, went on to say that the stabbing was 'really out of character for the area,' and that he believed 'It was targeted, not a random attack.'
In December, it was revealed that Iranian officials plotted to kill two of Zeraati's colleagues, Sima Sabet and Fardad Farahzad.
Ex-BBC journalist Ms Sabet said that following the attack on Mr Zeraati, police warned her to leave her home.
'The Metropolitan Police's Counter-Terrorism Unit last night urged me to immediately leave my residence following a knife attack on [Mr Zeraati], and stay elsewhere until further notice,' she posted on X today.
She described the attack on Mr Zeraati as a 'serious warning and an extremely troubling act for all journalists and opponents of the Islamic Republic in Britain and other Western countries'.
Speaking to the BBC today, she said she was 'outraged' by the attack and slammed the government, suggesting it was not taking the threat 'seriously'.
'We should feel safe, this is our country, this is our home, we are UK nationals being threatened at our home,' she said.
'If the UK government were taking this seriously, if the UK government had met with me... we have to have a channel of being communicated to, being heard by the government.'
As the threat to Ms Sabet and her colleague came to light at the end of last year, Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev was jailed for spying on journalists at Iran International on behalf of Tehran.
The station today admitted they have been regularly targeted by Iran's revolutionary guards.
Iran International spokesman Adam Baillie said the incident was 'hugely frightening' but Mr Zeraati was 'doing very well' and recovering in hospital.
Iran had previously planned to murder Sima Sabet, pictured who also works for the dissident TV station
The London-based dissident channel aims to provide independent coverage of Iran, but the Tehran regime has declared it a terrorist organisation.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has been targeting journalists and their families, Mr Baillie said.
Iran's charge d'affaires in the UK Mehdi Hosseini Matin said 'we deny any link' to the incident.
Mr Baillie told BBC Radio 4's Today: '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.'
Fellow reporter Fardad Farahzad had previously been targeted by Tehran
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.'
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.
'While we continue to assess the circumstances of this incident, detectives are following a number of lines of inquiry and our priority at this time is to try and identify whoever was behind this attack and to arrest them.
'I appreciate the wider concern this incident may cause - particularly amongst others in similar lines of work, and those from Iranian communities.
Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev, pictured at Gatwick Airport, had been spying on journalists at Iran International on behalf of Tehran
'We continue to work closely with the victim's organisation and as a precaution we'll have additional patrols in the Wimbledon area as well as other sites around London to provide reassurance over the coming days to those affected and concerned.
'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.'
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, it is understood.
Mohammed Ansari and Muhammed Abd al-Razek Kanafani, who are members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were sanctioned over threats to kill two of Mr Zeraati's colleagues based at Iran International's studio in Chiswick, West London.
Dovataev, 31, was jailed in December 2023 having been convicted at the Old Bailey
The pair wanted to arranged the assassinations of Mr Farahzad and Ms Sabet. An earlier iteration of the plan involved a car bomb.
The Iranian agents wanted a people smuggler to carry out the assassinations.
Anyone with information should contact police by calling 0800 789 321.
Iran International English posted on X, formerly Twitter, saying: 'Iran International's journalist @pouriazeraati has been attacked with a knife outside his house in London.
'He has sustained injuries but is in a stable condition. The matter is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police.
'The attack comes after the Iranian regime's 2022 plot to kill two @IranIntl television anchors @Sima-Sabet and @FardadFarahzad.'
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, reformas en zaragoza 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.'
InstagramWimbledonLondonIran
Read more:
Terror police investigate stabbing of Iranian journalist in London
Iranian journalist shares defiant photo from hospital bed after being stabbed outside London home | Evening Standard
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