Two men recruited by Iran jailed for stabbing Iranian TV presenter on London street

Two men have been jailed over the stabbing of a TV presenter in a case that exposed the use of criminal "proxies" in the UK by the Iranian government.

Iran International journalist Pouria Zeraati was stabbed three times in the leg in an attack outside his home in Wimbledon, south London, on 29 March 2024.

Romanian nationals Nandito Badea, 21, and George Stana, 25, were sentenced on Friday after being found guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm at Woolwich Crown Court in June.

Badea was given an eight-year jail term, and Stana was sentenced ​to 12 years.

The men were members of a team that flew in from Romania and spent a month surveilling Mr Zeraati's block of flats on Queensmere Road.

The target of the plot, Mr Zeraati, was a high-profile presenter for Iran International, a dissident TV station based in Chiswick, west London, until February 2023.

Threats made against the network, its employees and their families led to it relocating temporarily to Washington DC.

Mr Zeraati had appeared, along with other journalists, on "Wanted: dead or alive" posters that were put up in the Iranian capital Tehran.

Police said the pair fled the UK within hours of the attack, flying from Heathrow to Geneva after travelling there by taxi.

They were arrested in Romania in December 2024 and extradited to Britain later that month.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC told the court that Badea and Stana were motivated by money but were acting as criminal "proxies" for the Iranian government.

The judge added that the "foreign power condition" under the National Security Act applied to Stana, increasing his sentence because he knew, or should have known, of the link to Iran.

Following the sentencing, Chief Superintendent Kris Wright, head of Protective Security Operations for Counter Terrorism Policing London, said the attack was "targeted" and "carried out on behalf of the Iranian regime".

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He went on: "Both men are facing a considerable time behind bars for their actions, and Stana having his sentence extended because he knew or ought to have known this attack was on behalf of Iran.

"Our recent casework shows an increasing use of so-called 'proxies' by hostile foreign states to conduct illegal activity and attacks in the UK.

"But this case, and others, show that we will not tolerate this and that we will work with our partners in the UK and internationally to identify those involved and bring them to justice.

"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."

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