Pouria Zeraati, a presenter for the Persian-language outlet Iran International, is in stable condition.
A journalist from independent Iranian media based in the UK was attacked outside his home in London, prompting an anti-terror police investigation.
Pouria Zeraati, a presenter for the Persian-language outlet Iran International, is in stable condition, said the channel’s spokesperson, Adam Baillie.
“He is in the hospital recovering from the attack,” Baillie told BBC radio, describing Friday’s attack as “a shocking, shocking incident, regardless of the outcome revealed by the investigation.”
London’s Metropolitan Police said its counterterrorism unit is investigating the stabbing, given Iran’s previous hostile threats against alleged opponents in Britain.
The force said the motive was unclear and officers were “keeping an open mind,” but the victim’s occupation as a journalist in a UK-based Persian-language media organization was being considered.
Iran’s charge d’affaires in the UK, Mehdi Hosseini Matin, said Saturday that Tehran “denies any link” to the incident.
Zeraati, around 30, suffered leg injuries in the mid-afternoon attack outside his home in Wimbledon, southwest London.
Announcing the incident on social media, Iran International noted it came after Tehran was implicated in a plot to kill two of its TV presenters in 2022.
Baillie said the channel’s journalists, their families, and others had been repeatedly attacked and threatened by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“Alongside our colleagues at BBC Persian, Iran International has been under threat, very strong threats, for the past 18 months since the IRGC said ‘We are coming for you,'” he added.
Baillie said the paramilitary security force “reaches out through representatives,” and its tactics include summoning relatives in Iran for interrogation and threats.
“The scale of that has dramatically increased in recent months. And the scale and the nature of the interrogation are more aggressive,” he added.
The Met has foiled what it called plots in the UK to kidnap or even kill British individuals or residents perceived as Tehran’s enemies.
An Austrian citizen was convicted last December of spying for a group that may have been preparing to attack Iran International.
The Iranian government has declared the outlet a terrorist organization after it reported on protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
She died in 2022 after her arrest in Tehran for an alleged violation of the strict dress code for women in the Islamic Republic.
Last year, the UK government unveiled a tougher sanctions regime against Iran for alleged human rights violations and hostile actions against its opponents on British soil.
