Two men convicted over targeted attack on Iran International journalist in London

Two men have been convicted over a targeted knife attack on Iranian journalist Pouria Zeraati in London, in a case prosecutors said was carried out after months of surveillance and on behalf of the Iranian state.

Jurors found Nandito Badea, 21, and George Stana, 25, guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after a trial at Woolwich crown court in south-east London. The men denied the charges.

Zeraati, a British journalist of Iranian origin, was working for Iran International, a Farsi-language broadcaster, when he was stabbed outside his home in Wimbledon in 2024. Prosecutors said the attack was a planned operation preceded by reconnaissance.

The Crown Prosecution Service said the defendants acted as part of a three-man team and that the attack was not a spontaneous assault. It said the case was supported by CCTV footage, mobile phone and communications data, financial evidence, eyewitness testimony and travel records.

According to prosecutors, the victim was targeted because of his work for Iran International. The article says the broadcaster’s opposition coverage and Saudi backing led Tehran to designate it as a terrorist organisation in 2022.

Jurors were shown images of posters in Tehran featuring journalists including Zeraati with the words “Wanted: dead or alive”. Duncan Atkinson KC, prosecuting, said the men carried out “extensive surveillance and reconnaissance” for the attack “ordered by a third party”.

The prosecution said Badea wielded the knife while Andrei, who was not on trial, was also part of the attack. Stana was said to have waited in a getaway car seen on CCTV during hostile reconnaissance before the attack.

Badea and Stana told police they were surprised by the stabbing and said Andrei was the real culprit. The article says their presence in the UK was funded by others, including a company called Hemroc Ltd through Stana’s sister’s bank account.

Jurors were told the attackers were seen laughing as they fled the scene. The head of Iran’s diplomatic mission in the UK denied any link between Tehran and the attack.

The article says the war in Iran has broadened to diaspora communities in the UK, including arson attacks against Iranian dissidents and Jewish people. It also says another man is due to stand trial this month for allegedly working on behalf of Iran to carry out surveillance on a journalist at Iran International.

In April, London-based Iranian journalists told the Guardian they feared for their lives after threats and physical attacks they blame on a Tehran regime determined to silence Persian-language news media.

Frank Ferguson, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s special crime and counter-terrorism division, said the evidence showed the case was “a deliberate, targeted attack on a journalist, carried out after months of planning and surveillance”. He added: “These convictions reflect the strength of that evidence and the seriousness of an offence designed to silence a journalist through intimidation and violence.”