Men jailed for targeted knife attack on Iran International presenter

George Stana was jailed for 12 years and Nandito Badea for eight years at the Old Bailey after a judge found their knife attack on Iran International presenter Pouria Zeraati was carried out on behalf of, or for the benefit of, the Iranian state. The sentencing on 3 July 2026 closed a case against a journalist living in London.

Zeraati was stabbed multiple times in the leg on the afternoon of 29 March 2024 in Queensmere Road, Wimbledon, after the men approached him as he left his home and walked toward his car. One man asked for money before Zeraati was held by one attacker and stabbed by the other. The pair fled the UK immediately after the assault, leaving through Heathrow for Geneva, and were later arrested in Romania in December 2024 before being extradited to Britain.

The attack was a targeted operation preceded by reconnaissance, and the defendants acted as criminal proxies for the Iranian regime. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb found the evidence overwhelmingly supported the conclusion that it was carried out in the interests of and on behalf of the Iranian state. She applied the foreign power condition under section 31 of the National Security Act in Stana’s case, citing his extensive planning and lengthy involvement, but not in Badea’s case because he was not aware of the link to Iran.

The suspects spent a month watching Zeraati’s block of flats, used a blue Mazda 3 as a getaway car and changed clothes after the attack. Officers later recovered clothing from a bin in New Malden and linked it to the suspects through DNA. Counter Terrorism Policing London worked with the Romanian authorities, the Crown Prosecution Service and the National Crime Agency to secure extradition warrants.

Zeraati told the court the attack left him scared and anxious and forced him to relocate abroad for fear of reprisals. Iran International had already faced threats from the Iranian regime, and the broadcaster itself was designated a terrorist organisation by Iran.