Two Romanian men jailed for stabbing journalist Pouria Zeraati outside his London home.
Judge said evidence indicates the attack was carried out for a foreign state.
Case linked by UK officials to wider alleged Iran-backed operations in Britain.
Pouria Zeraati, a presenter for London-based Iran International, was stabbed in the leg in March 2024 in the Wimbledon area. Reporting by the Associated Press said two men were later convicted of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and sentenced on Friday to eight and 12 years in prison, with the court accepting evidence that the assault was linked to Iranian authorities.
According to Associated Press, Nandito Badea, 21, and George Stana, 25, were found guilty by a jury last month over the attack, which prosecutors said involved a coordinated assault outside Zeraati’s home before the suspects fled in a getaway car driven by Stana. The pair then left the UK via Heathrow Airport before being arrested in Romania in December 2024 and later extradited to Britain. A third suspect, David Andrei, remains subject to criminal proceedings in Romania.
At London’s Central Criminal Court, Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said the “evidence overwhelmingly points” to the attack being carried out on behalf of the Iranian authorities.
“I am sure that this was an attack carried out for and for the benefit of a foreign power,” she said during a sentencing hearing at London’s Central Criminal Court
Reported by Associated Press, the judge added that Stana should have known the “targeted and serious” nature of the assault was linked to Iran and imposed a 12-year sentence on him, while Badea, who was involved for a shorter period in the conspiracy, received eight years.
Iran’s senior diplomat in the UK has denied Tehran was behind the attack.
Zeraati recovered from his injuries but said in a victim impact statement that the incident left him “scared and anxious” and forced him to relocate abroad “for fear of any reprisals.”
The broadcaster Iran International has previously faced threats over its coverage of Iran’s government. Zeraati was a prominent presenter, and prosecutors said a billboard displaying his image with a “Wanted: Dead or Alive” message had appeared in Tehran.
Chief Superintendent Kris Wright of Counter Terrorism Policing London said, as reported by the Associated Press, “it was our case that this targeted and violent attack on a journalist was carried out on behalf of the Iranian regime, and the judge agreed with that assessment of the evidence.
“Our message to anyone being asked to carry out activity by foreign states or even unknown entities online is to think again, because you will be caught and you will face justice,” he said.
UK security officials have claimed Iran is behind a rising number of plots on British soil involving criminal proxies targeting opposition media outlets and the Jewish community. MI5 chief Ken McCallum said in October that more than 20 “potentially lethal Iran-backed plots” had been disrupted over the previous year.
An Iranian proxy group has also claimed responsibility for a recent series of suspected antisemitic attacks, including stabbings and attempted firebombings at synagogues.
