Pouria Zeraati: Terrorism investigation after Iran International TV journalist stabbed outside London home

A journalist from an Iranian television channel critical of the country's regime is in a "stable" condition after being stabbed outside his London home.

Pouria Zeraati, a presenter for the London-based Farsi channel Iran International, was stabbed in the leg on Friday afternoon (March 29).

The Met Police says its Counter Terrorism Command is leading the investigation due to the "number of threats directed towards this group of journalists in recent times".

The channel tweeted from its English language Twitter account on Friday: "Iran International's journalist @pouriazeraati has been attacked with a knife outside his house in London. He has sustained injuries but is in a stable condition. The matter is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police. The attack comes after the Iranian regime's 2022 plot to kill two @IranIntl television anchors @Sima_Sabet and @FardadFarahzad."

Police were called at 2.49pm to reports that a man in his 30s was attacked in Wimbledon and sustained an injury to his leg. The force says his condition is not believed to be life threatening and he is in a stable condition.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, said: "While we are keeping an open mind, given the occupation of the victim and our publicised concerns about the threat to employees of that organisation, the investigation is being led by the Counter Terrorism Command.

“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. While we continue to assess the circumstances of this incident, detectives are following a number of lines of enquiry and our priority at this time is to try and identify whoever was behind this attack and to arrest them.

“I appreciate the wider concern this incident may cause – particularly amongst others in similar lines of work, and those from Iranian communities. We continue to work closely with the victim’s organisation and as a precaution we’ll have additional patrols in the Wimbledon area as well as other sites around London to provide reassurance over the coming days to those affected and concerned.

“Finally, I would urge anyone in the Wimbledon area who may have seen anything or anyone acting suspiciously today to get in touch with us.”

In a further statement on its website, the Met Police says: "Counter Terrorism Policing continues to deal with threats projected into the UK from Iran. Since 2022, a number of plots to either kidnap or even kill British or UK-based individuals perceived as enemies of the Iranian regime have been disrupted.

"In addition, specialist officers continue to liaise closely with individuals and organisations affected – including Persian-language media organisations – to give them appropriate safety and security advice.

"Counter Terrorism Policing continues to work closely with intelligence partners and others to counter these types of threat - either through protective security measures or disruptive action.

"If anyone has concerns over their own safety or the safety of somebody else, they should contact their local police force."

Anyone with information can contact police by calling 0800 789 321.