Iranian journalists have been subjected to a series of threats, the London-based TV channel Iran International said on Saturday as one of its presenters recovers from a knife attack.
Pouria Zeraati, the host of the station’s Final Word programme, has been discharged from hospital after a knife attack outside his home in Wimbledon, south London.
Iran has denied anything to do with the attack.
The Metropolitan Police said no arrest had been made, but it was confident the suspects “do not present a risk to communities of London or the UK”.
They said they were called at 2:49pm on March 29 to an address in Wimbledon, South London after a man was attacked and sustained an injury to his leg.
London Ambulance Service paramedics attended with police and the man was treated before being taken to hospital.
“We continue to assess the circumstances of this incident and our investigation is making progress, but I am not yet able to provide further information about any motive behind the attack," Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said.
“While officers continue to follow active leads, I am not in a position to release further information about our inquiries into those responsible. However, I can confirm that I am confident these suspects do not present a risk to communities of London or the UK.
“I appreciate the concern this incident has caused, for local people as well as for those in similar lines of work and from Iranian communities.
“We are working closely with the victim’s organisation and 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.”
Iran International spokesman Adam Baillie said the incident was “hugely frightening” but that Mr Zeraati has now been released from hospital.
"I am also pleased to say that his recovery is going very well," he said.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has been targeting journalists and their families, Mr Baillie said.
“It was a shocking, shocking incident, whatever the outcome of an investigation reveals,” he said.
“But for him [Zeraati] as a leading presenter, as with our other presenters and journalists, yes, it is a great shock. It's the first attack of its kind.”
Iran's charge d'affaires in the UK Mehdi Hosseini Matin denied any link to the incident.
In January, the Foreign Office announced sanctions against members of the IRGC's Unit 840 following an ITV investigation into plots to assassinate two of Iran International's presenters in the UK.
Officials said that plot was the latest credible example of Iran's attempts to kill or intimidate Britons or people with links to the UK, with at least 15 such threats since January 2022.
The London-based Farsi language channel aims to provide independent coverage of Iran, but Tehran has declared it a terrorist organisation.
The station’s influence – with an estimated 30 million viewers both in Iran and abroad – is believed to have led the Tehran regime to take previous action against it.
Iranian dissidents across the capital were warned earlier this year by security services of an increased risk of violence or kidnap due to rising Middle East tension.
Sources have told The National that the IRGC was using London-based criminals to carry out attacks against opponents of the regime.
Mr Baillie told BBC Radio 4's Today: “Along with our colleagues at BBC Persian, Iran International has been under threat, very heavy threats, for the last 18 months since the IRGC said 'we're coming for you', which they have consistently repeated.”
He said the IRGC “get in touch through proxies, they don't leave a paper trail”.
“No one's going to call up from the IRGC and go 'hey, it's us', but families have been taken in for questioning and threatened.”
He added: “The scale of that has increased dramatically over the last few months, and the scale and the type of questioning is more aggressive, 'tell your relatives to stop working for this channel' and so on.”
In December 2023 an IT worker was jailed for three-and-a-half years for spying on Iran International before a “planned attack” on British soil.
Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev carried out hostile reconnaissance for others at the London headquarters of Iran International in February.
After a trial at the Old Bailey, the Chechnya-born Austrian was found guilty of trying to collect information for terrorist purposes.
Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
THE%20SPECS
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THE SPECS
Engine: Four-cylinder 2.5-litre
Transmission: Seven-speed auto
Power: 165hp
Torque: 241Nm
Price: Dh99,900 to Dh134,000
On sale: now
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
Results
International 4, United States 1
Justin Thomas and Tiger Woods (US) beat Marc Leishman and Joaquin Niemann (International) 4 and 3.
Adam Hadwin and Sungjae Im (International) beat Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay (US) 2 up.
Adam Scott and Byeong Hun An (International) beat Bryson DeChambeau and Tony Finau (US) 2 and 1.
Hideki Matsuyama and C.T. Pan (International) beat Webb Simpson and Patrick Reed (US) 1 up.
Abraham Ancer and Louis Oosthuizen (International) beat Dustin Johnson and Gary Woodland (US) 4 and 3.
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Race card
5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; 5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; 6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (PA) 1,400m
About Okadoc
Date started: Okadoc, 2018
Founder/CEO: Fodhil Benturquia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Healthcare
Size: (employees/revenue) 40 staff; undisclosed revenues recording “double-digit” monthly growth
Funding stage: Series B fundraising round to conclude in February
Investors: Undisclosed
Types of policy
Term life insurance: this is the cheapest and most-popular form of life cover. You pay a regular monthly premium for a pre-agreed period, typically anything between five and 25 years, or possibly longer. If you die within that time, the policy will pay a cash lump sum, which is typically tax-free even outside the UAE. If you die after the policy ends, you do not get anything in return. There is no cash-in value at any time. Once you stop paying premiums, cover stops.
Whole-of-life insurance: as its name suggests, this type of life cover is designed to run for the rest of your life. You pay regular monthly premiums and in return, get a guaranteed cash lump sum whenever you die. As a result, premiums are typically much higher than one term life insurance, although they do not usually increase with age. In some cases, you have to keep up premiums for as long as you live, although there may be a cut-off period, say, at age 80 but it can go as high as 95. There are penalties if you don’t last the course and you may get a lot less than you paid in.
Critical illness cover: this pays a cash lump sum if you suffer from a serious illness such as cancer, heart disease or stroke. Some policies cover as many as 50 different illnesses, although cancer triggers by far the most claims. The payout is designed to cover major financial responsibilities such as a mortgage or children’s education fees if you fall ill and are unable to work. It is cost effective to combine it with life insurance, with the policy paying out once if you either die or suffer a serious illness.
Income protection: this pays a replacement income if you fall ill and are unable to continue working. On the best policies, this will continue either until you recover, or reach retirement age. Unlike critical illness cover, policies will typically pay out for stress and musculoskeletal problems such as back trouble.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
MORE ON THE US DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES
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Aayan%E2%80%99s%20records
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The specs
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder
Power: 220 and 280 horsepower
Torque: 350 and 360Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT
On sale: now
Venom
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed
Rating: 1.5/5
Could%20We%20Be%20More
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