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The injured journalist Pouria Zeraati
Photo: Iran International
Several men allegedly attacked Iranian-born television presenter Pouria Zeraati in south London on Friday. They attacked the Iranian man in front of his apartment in Wimbledon and stabbed him in the leg with a knife. The exact background to the crime is still unclear, but the Counter Terrorism Department of the Metropolitan Police Service has started an investigation. There have been frequent threats against Iranian journalists in London in the recent past. British security forces claim to have prevented several planned assassinations and kidnappings of Iranians.
Zeraati works for the dissident broadcaster Iran International, one of the country's most popular television channels, which has been reporting from London since 2017. According to the broadcaster, the presenter is in the hospital, but his life is not in danger. Last year, the station temporarily gave up its headquarters in London and brought its journalists to Washington, DC for security reasons.
Strategies to protect Iranian exiles
A spokesman for the broadcaster, Adam Baillie, told British media that the attack was deeply frightening. There have been threats, but this is the first physical attack on an employee.
Alicia Kearns, chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Commons, expressed concern that Britain was not yet doing enough to protect opponents of the Iranian regime. The background to this attack is not yet known, but Iran continues to hunt down those who are brave enough to speak out against the regime, Kearns commented on Platform X. »Nevertheless, I am not convinced that we and our allies are clear “We have strategies to protect the people in our countries from them,” wrote the foreign politician.
boy/AP