Two men jailed in Iran-linked stabbing of journalist in London

Two Romanian men have been jailed at London’s Old Bailey for the 2024 stabbing of Iran International presenter Pouria Zeraati, after a judge accepted prosecutors’ case that the attack was carried out for the benefit of the Iranian state.

London’s Metropolitan Police said George Stana, 25, was sentenced Friday to 12 years and Nandito Badea, 21, to eight years after a Counter Terrorism Policing investigation traced the attackers, their getaway route and reconnaissance around Zeraati’s Wimbledon home. Stana’s sentence was aggravated under the National Security Act’s “foreign power condition”; the judge did not apply that finding to Badea.

The attack happened on March 29, 2024, as Zeraati left his home in southwest London. Police said two men approached him, one asked for money, and he was then held and stabbed multiple times in the leg before the attackers fled. The Met said the suspects left the UK on a flight to Geneva and were later identified through CCTV, mobile-phone data, forensic evidence and cooperation with Romanian authorities.

BBC reporting from the Old Bailey matched the core sentencing facts and added that Zeraati needed stitches for three stab wounds. AP, carried by the Los Angeles Times, reported that the judge said the evidence “overwhelmingly points” to the attack being carried out on behalf of Iranian authorities.

The attribution needs care: police, prosecutors and the judge tied the attack to Iran, while Iran’s senior diplomat in the UK has denied Tehran was behind it. A third suspect, David Andrei, remains subject to criminal proceedings in Romania.

Sources: Metropolitan Police; BBC; AP via Los Angeles Times. Image: Met Police media-use photo.