Two Romanians jailed for stabbing Iranian journalist in London

Two Romanians have been jailed for their involvement in a targeted knife attack on an Iranian television journalist in London, which a judge said was carried out on behalf of the Iranian regime. At the Old Bailey on Friday, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb sentenced George Stana, 25, to 12 years and Nandito Badea, 21, to eight years for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The victim, Pouria Zeraati, worked for the Persian-language channel Iran International, which is critical of the Tehran regime. He was stabbed three times in the thigh outside his home in Wimbledon on 29 March 2024. Prosecutors described it as a planned attack preceded by reconnaissance and ordered by a third party acting on behalf of the Iranian state.

Badea and another man, David Andrei (still in Romania and not on trial), crowded Zeraati and one of them stabbed him multiple times. Stana waited in a Mazda getaway car, which was spotted on CCTV during hostile reconnaissance before the attack.

In a victim impact statement, Zeraati told the Metropolitan Police he was left scared and anxious and had to relocate abroad for fear of reprisals. The court heard that Badea and Andrei visited his property eight times across five dates and had flown into the UK expressly for the attack. Prosecutors believed the stabbing had been planned for over a year.

Defence lawyers argued that Stana was functionally illiterate and unaware of current affairs, so could not have known he was operating on behalf of Iran. Badea's barrister questioned whether his client was the actual stabber. The judge dismissed these claims, stating the evidence overwhelmingly pointed to the attack being for Iran's benefit.

Chief Superintendent Kris Wright of Counter-Terrorism Policing London noted an increasing use of proxies by hostile foreign states to conduct illegal activity in the UK, but said authorities are working to bring those involved to justice.