Iranian journalist who was stabbed outside home shares pic of him in hospital
Iranian journalist who was stabbed outside home shares pic of him in hospital
An Iranian journalist who was stabbed outside his London home has shared a picture of himself smiling in his hospital bed.
Pouria Zeraati, a presenter for London-based independent Iranian TV channel Iran International, was attacked outside his home in Wimbledon, south London, on Friday night.
The journalist, who according to police is in a stable condition, posted the picture on X shows him making a âpeaceâ sign gesture while dressed in a hospital gown and surrounded by wires and medical equipment.
A spokesperson for Iran International also confirmed that Mr Zeraati was âdoing very wellâ while recovering in hospital, adding that the attack was âhugely frighteningâ.
Mr Zeraat being attacked comes after it was revealed earlier this year that UK counter-terrorism police foiled 15 plots linked to Iran, with journalists who have criticised Tehranâs regime among those reportedly targeted, The Telegraph reports.
The Met said the motivation for the attack was not yet clear but the investigation is being investigated by specialist officers from the Metâs Counter Terrorism Command (CTC) because of his occupation and recent threats towards UK-based Iranian journalists.
The attack comes after the news channel â which says it aims to provide independent coverage of Iran â said it received âheavy threatsâ against its journalists.
Iran International is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the Tehran regime.
Iranâs charge dâaffaires in the UK Mehdi Hosseini Matin said they âdeny any linkâ to the incident involving Mr Zeraati.
A spokesperson for the news channel said Iran International said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) â the primary branch of the Iranian Armed Forces â had been targeting its journalists and their families.
Adam Baillie told BBC Radio 4 Today: âAlong with our colleagues at BBC Persian, Iran International has been under threat, very heavy threats, for the last 18 months since the IRGC said âweâre coming for youâ, which they have consistently repeated.â
He said the military group would âget in touch through proxies, they donât leave a paper trailâ. The IRGC was set up in 1979 following the Iranian Revolution to essentially protect the regime.
âNo oneâs going to call up from the IRGC and go âhey, itâs usâ, but families have been taken in for questioning and threatened,â Mr Baillie told the programme.
âThe scale of that has increased dramatically over the last few months and the scale and the type of questioning is more aggressive. âTell your relatives to stop working for this channelâ and so on.â
Threats proved so serious that Iran International was forced to shut down its operation in London early last year due to what it called âstate-backed threatsâ, before moving to studios in Washington DC, US. It returned to London in September.
Foreign Affairs Select Committee Chair Alicia Kearns said the stabbing was âdeeply upsettingâ following news of the incident.
âWhilst we donât know the circumstances of this attack, Iran continues to hunt down those brave enough to speak out against the regime,â she said in a post on X.
âYet I remain unconvinced that we and our allies have clear strategies to protect people in our countries from them, and protect our interests abroad.â
