Two Romanians Convicted of Stabbing Journalist in Britain and Working for Iran

SadaNews - A British court has convicted two Romanian men for stabbing a journalist working for a Persian-language media organization in London. The prosecution stated that the defendants acted on behalf of the Iranian government, according to the Reuters news agency.

Pouria Zareifokoulai, known as Pouria Zarati, a British journalist of Iranian descent working for Iran International, was stabbed three times in the leg near his home in southwest London in March 2024.

Duncan Atkinson, the prosecutor, told the jury at the start of the trial last month that three men targeted Zarati, who works for a television channel that criticizes the Iranian government, which Tehran classifies as a terrorist organization.

Atkinson added that they executed a "premeditated attack, preceded by reconnaissance, and commissioned by a third party working on behalf of the Iranian state."

Iran denied any involvement in the incident. The two defendants, 21-year-old Nandito Badia and 25-year-old George Stana, pleaded not guilty to the charge of intentional harm, but the Woolwich Crown Court in London found them guilty.

Authorities arrested a third defendant, David Andre, in Romania, but that trial did not involve him.

Atkinson informed the jury that posters featuring images of journalists, including Zarati, spread across Tehran in 2022 under the heading "Wanted: Dead or Alive."

Iran International has previously been targeted; last month, authorities charged a Greek national with monitoring and tracking one of its journalists and charged three men in April with attempting to set fire to offices associated with the channel in northwest London.

A spokesperson for Volant Media, the owner of Iran International, welcomed the convictions. He stated in a press release that the channel's journalists "are subjected to a continuous campaign of intimidation" from Iran.