Two men recruited by Iran found guilty of stabbing TV presenter on London street

Two men have been found guilty of stabbing a TV presenter on a suburban street in a case that has exposed the use of criminal "proxies" in the UK by the Iranian government.

Iran International journalist Pouria Zeraati was stabbed three times in the leg in an attack outside his home in Wimbledon, south London, on 29 March 2024.

Romanian nationals Nandito Badea, 21, and George Stana, 25, were found guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday.

The men were members of a team that flew in from Romania and spent a month surveilling Mr Zeraati's block of flats on Queensmere Road.

Duncan Atkinson KC, prosecuting, said the attack was "deliberate, planned violence" aimed at causing serious injury to Mr Zeraati as part of a campaign of "harassment and intimidation" by Iran.

Badea, a former professional footballer, approached Mr Zeraati and asked if he had any change as David Andrei, 22, grabbed the presenter from behind, pinning his arms to his side.

Badea, who was wearing a hooded top with the word "gangster" on the front, drew a knife and stabbed Mr Zeraati before both men, who had been taking drugs, ran off laughing.

They jumped into a blue Mazda 3 hatchback, driven by Stana, who was waiting on a side road, and sped from the scene with the doors still open.

The men drove to New Malden, southwest London, where they abandoned the car, dumped their clothing in a nearby bin and used the Bolt app to call a taxi, heading to Heathrow Airport.

They then took a flight to Geneva, Switzerland, from where they returned to Bucharest.

Criminal 'proxies' for Iranian government

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC told the court the men were motivated by money but were acting as criminal "proxies" for the Iranian government.

The target of the plot, Mr Zeraati, was a high-profile presenter for Iran International, a dissident TV station based in Chiswick, west London, until February 2023, when threats made against the network, its employees and their families led to it relocating temporarily to Washington DC.

Mr Zeraati had appeared, along with other journalists, on "Wanted: dead or alive" posters that were put up in the Iranian capital Tehran. Badea said he had "no idea" Mr Zeraati was a campaigning journalist.

Badea, who had played for FC Astra Giurgiu and CS Blejoi in Romania before working in construction, said he met Andrei at a music festival in his home town of Ploiesti, a town 30 miles north of Bucharest.

Andrei could not be extradited to face trial in the UK because he was subject to domestic proceedings in Romania.

Stana claimed he was called in to be the getaway driver for a robbery on Mr Zeraati, who had a collection of expensive watches that included Rolex, Hublot, Cartier and Schaffhausen.

However, investigators believe he acted as co-ordinator for the plot, which was funded through his brother-in-law, who had been deported from the UK after serving two prison sentences.

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Constantine Matache, known as "Bebe", ran a London construction company called Hemroc Ltd, and hired the men, operating with another Romanian man called Catalin Dumitru.

The plot was said to be funded by an Iranian-British businessman called Edgar Hakkopian, 41, who ran the Tehran Cafe in Finchley, North London.

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