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.
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.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
THE BIO
Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old
Since 2001, Ms Davison has worked at many affordable schools such as Our Own English High School in Sharjah, and The Apple International School and Amled School in Dubai
Favourite Book: The Alchemist
Favourite quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail
Favourite place to Travel to: Vienna
Favourite cuisine: Italian food
Favourite Movie : Scent of a Woman
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
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England's Ashes squad
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BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
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Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
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GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
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Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
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Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
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Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
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Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
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Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
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- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
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4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
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