Journalist Pouria Zeraati, a television host for London-based Iranian news organisation Iran International, was stabbed multiple times by a group of attackers outside of his Wimbledon home on Friday, the Daily Beast reported.
According to Iran International, Zeraati is in a stable condition in hospital after he was stabbed multiple times “all over his body”.
Zeraati hosts the “Last Word”, a programme that critically reports on the Iranian government and other geopolitical issues including Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
While it is yet to be known who attacked Zeraati, the brutal incident is being investigated by a specialist counter-terrorism unit of the London’s Metropolitan Police, according to the BBC.
According to the police, the counter-terrorism unit has been assigned to investigate this incident because it involves a journalist at a Persian-language media organisation based in the United Kingdom.
Additionally, the attack comes at time when a number of threats are “directed towards this group of journalists”, police told the BBC.
Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “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.”
According to the Daily Beast, the attack against Zeraati follows a recent report by one of UK’s local media, channels, ITV, that revealed a secret plot by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IGRC) to assassinate two of the outlet’s anchors — Sima Sabet and Fardad Farahzad.
The plot, codenamed “the wedding”, was allegedly planned by Mohammed Reza Ansari, the commander of the IRGC.
However, according to Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists: “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.”
