Two men have been jailed for stabbing an Iranian TV presenter outside his London home in an attack a judge ruled was carried out “in the interest of and on behalf of the Iranian state”.
Pouria Zeraati, a journalist for the Persian-language channel Iran International, was stabbed three times in the leg in the 2024 assault, which exposed the use of criminal “proxies” in the UK by the Iranian government.
“Two men jailed for stabbing Iran International journalist Pouria Zeraati in a London street attack ordered by the Iranian state.”
The judge’s ruling marks the first time a British court has formally found that Tehran orchestrated a violent crime on British soil, raising serious questions about the reach of the Iranian state’s operations in the UK.
Zeraati was attacked outside his home in what prosecutors said was a targeted attempt to silence a critical voice. The two men, whose identities have not been disclosed, were convicted and jailed for the stabbing.
The case has heightened concerns among the Iranian diaspora community in London, many of whom fear reprisals for speaking out against the regime. Iran International, which is based in London and broadcasts into Iran, has long been a target of Tehran’s ire.
During the trial, evidence emerged that the attackers were recruited as proxies – a tactic the Iranian government has used to carry out operations abroad while maintaining deniability. The judge’s explicit ruling that the attack was “on behalf of the Iranian state” breaks that plausible deniability, and is expected to trigger diplomatic repercussions.