Counter-terror police investigating a attack on a dissident Iranian journalist outside his home in London believe three men linked to the attack fled Britain within hours of knifing him in the street.
The Metropolitan Police says it is confident that three people were involved in the brutal strike on Pouria Zeraati, who works for the anti-government Iran International TV channel, outside his home in Wimbledon, south London on March 29.
Mr Zeraati was slashed in the leg shortly before 3pm by a pair of hooded thugs who are believed to have approached him, held him in a bear hug and then stabbed him before fleeing in a car later found abandoned.
Police have since established that the suspects travelled directly to Heathrow Airport and left the UK in the hours immediately after the assault – meaning they were able to flee before the alarm was raised.
Mr Zeraati is continuing to recover from the attack at a Met Police safehouse after being discharged from hospital; the Tehran government is being blamed by some for the attack, but it denies any involvement.
Dissident Iranian journalist Pouria Zeraati, who was attacked outside his home in Wimbledon, south London by thugs believed to be acting on orders from Tehran
Mr Zeraati hosts a high-profile show from London on Iran International, which is frequently critical of the goverment
Mr Zeraati’s wife, Oldouz Rezvani, 37, (left) was inside their home as her husband was knifed
He posted on X to thank well-wishers for their ‘sympathy, kindness and love’ after being discharged from hospital
Specialist cops in the Metropolitan Police’s anti-terror squad are leading the investigation because the Iran International TV station has been the subject of threats in the past.
They say they are confident they have identified three suspects – and are working with international agencies to further the investigation.
Met counter terror boss Commander Dominic Murphy said: ‘As a result of a very comprehensive investigation, at pace, we have identified three suspects who we believe, left the UK within hours of the attack.
‘Detectives trawled CCTV and made extensive enquiries resulting in the identification and recovery of a vehicle used by the suspects to leave the scene.
‘We have established that after abandoning the vehicle, the suspects travelled to Heathrow Airport and have left the UK. We are now working with international partners to establish further details.’
It is believed either agents working directly for the Iranian government or a criminal gang hired by Tehran targeted Zeraati, who hosts a high-profile TV show in London.
Mr Zeraati’s wife, Oldouz Rezvani, 37, was inside their home as her husband was knifed on the street outside as he made his way to work.
Police believe he was approached by two hooded men who asked him for money – before restraining him and knifing him in the leg.
They then fled in a blue Mazda 3 being driven by another male. The car was discovered abandoned in the New Malden area, a few miles away, a short time later.
While Iran International staff have been threatened in the past, the Met says it is at a loss as to why Mr Zeraati was specifically targeted.
Cmdr Murphy added: ‘I must reiterate that we are still at an 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.
‘All lines of enquiry are being pursued and we are keeping an open mind on any potential motivation for the attack.
‘I appreciate the concern this incident has caused, for local people and all those impacted. Additional patrols are continuing in the Wimbledon area and at other locations in London.
‘If you have any concerns, please do speak with these officers. I am grateful to everyone who has assisted officers with their enquiries or provided witness accounts to police.’
On Monday, Mr Zeraati said he believed he had been the target of a ‘purposefully planned’ attack, adding that the suspects ‘do not pose a threat to the public’.
In a message on X, formerly Twitter, the reporter said: ‘The amount of your sympathy, kindness and love in past few days has been and is the greatest and best energy for my recovery process.
‘Fortunately, I am feeling better, recovering & I have been discharged from the hospital. My wife and I are residing at a safe place under the supervision of the Met Police.’
Bardia Afshin (pictured) , a journalist at UK-based Iran International who works alongside Mr Zeraati, said multiple plots against him and his colleagues had been thwarted
Iran’s most senior diplomat in Britain, Mehdi Hosseini Matin (pictured), denied the regime had any links to the attack
Mr Zeraati also shared a defiant image of himself in hospital, making the peace symbol with his right hand as he smiled at the camera.
The attack shocked locals in the Queensmere Road community, where one neighbour told the Evening Standard they had seen the alleged assailants flee the scene.
A neighbour who was walking with a friend down Queensmere Road, where the attack took place, and witnessed the aftermath, told the Evening Standard that they saw the alleged assailants flee the scene.
He said: ‘It’s a very quiet suburban road and we saw two young men sprinting towards us, about 20 yards away and then got into a car. They sped off.
‘It felt odd. The two men were laughing, quite clearly laughing. I looked two of them in the eye – they were no more than a cricket pitch length away from me.’
He added: ‘We tried to give first aid and take his jeans off. He had been stabbed, I think four times. He had his jeans on and he had a pool of blood on his leg. It was [awful] to see.’
The unnamed neighbour, who does not know Mr Zeraati personally, went on to say that the stabbing was ‘really out of character for the area,’ and that he believed ‘It was targeted, not a random attack.’
Iran International broadcasts in Persian to what it says is an audience of millions despite alleged disruption by the Iranian government.
It reports on human rights violations and political issues in Iran, and has been designated as a terrorist organisation in the country – meaning anyone who works with the channel is deemed a threat to national security.
The channel has faced threats from the Iranian government before. Bardia Afshin, a colleague of Mr Zeraati, said after the attack: ‘I myself receive hate messages, threats, now via my social media.’
And British-Iranian former BBC journalist Sima Sabet said Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism unit urged her to leave her home after the stabbing and claimed she had been the target of a failed assassination attempt from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
On Saturday, Iran International spokesman Adam Baillie said the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had been targeting journalists and their families.
But Iran’s charge d’affaires in the UK Mehdi Hosseini Matin said on X: ‘We deny any link to this story of this so-called journalist.’
Last month, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron condemned Iran’s reported conviction of BBC Persian journalists, calling it ‘unacceptable’.
He said: ‘Documents published online suggest that 10 BBC Persian staff have been tried and convicted in Iran in absentia of propaganda against the Islamic Republic.
‘I think this is completely unacceptable behaviour. We do raise these issues with our Iranian counterparts.
‘And also, when I last met the Iranian foreign minister, I raised the case of the fact that Iran was paying thugs to try and murder Iranian journalists providing free and independent information for Iran TV in Britain.
‘On both counts, in my view, they are guilty.’
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk