The UK government summoned Iran’s Chargé d’Affaires in London, Ali Nasimfar, on Tuesday after a British judge formally determined that a March 2024 knife attack against broadcast journalist Pouria Zeraati was commissioned and executed on behalf of the Iranian regime.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) confirmed that Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer formally called in Tehran's most senior diplomat in the United Kingdom following the criminal sentencing of two Romanian nationals involved in the targeted assault on the Iran International presenter.
Expressing the government's strong objection to the incident, an FCDO spokesperson noted, “This follows a longstanding pattern of hostile activity by the Iranian intelligence services on UK soil."
Court disclosures highlighted that the presiding magistrate determined one of the co-defendants satisfied the foreign power threshold established under the National Security Act 2023. The judicial finding established that he was aware, or reasonably should have been aware, of the operational nexus connecting the violent plot directly to Iran.
“Iran’s actions attempt to undermine UK sovereignty and security and are completely unacceptable - it must cease in these activities immediately," the FCDO spokesperson said.
Zeraati, a prominent host for the London-headquartered, opposition-affiliated network Iran International, survived being stabbed in the thigh during the March 2024 ambush outside his suburban Wimbledon home.
Zeraati later left the UK and moved to Israel, saying he feels “much safer" in the Jewish state.
Following a jury trial last month, a 21-year-old and a 25-year-old were convicted of wounding Zeraati with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Because of its critical reporting on Iran's Islamic theocracy, Iran International has frequently been targeted with violent threats. Zeraati, a highly visible public figure for the satellite network, was reportedly featured on an aggressive public billboard in Tehran declaring him “Wanted: Dead or Alive."
The persistent danger from state-sponsored intimidation previously forced the news station to temporarily shift its broadcast center to Washington, D.C., in 2023, citing an intensification of “state-backed threats from Iran." The network subsequently established a new base of operations back in London.