Did an Iranian hit squad attack a journalist in London?

Counter-terrorist detectives investigating a stabbing of a dissident Iranian journalist in London have discovered that three suspects left the country within hours of the attack. Pouria Zeraati, 36, a presenter for Iran International, was knifed in the leg outside his home in Wimbledon on Friday. The suspects fled the scene to Heathrow before boarding a flight. Police are keeping an open mind about any potential motivation for the attack but the chief suspects are operatives of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). 

Iran has a long history of targeting those they believe are threatening the regime, but the last two years have seen a peak in threats to dissidents living overseas. Since 2022, counter-terrorism police in Britain have issued at least 15 ‘threat to life’ warnings over plots to kidnap or kill Iranian dissidents. Individuals are given an ‘acute’, ‘moderate’ or ‘low’ risk and offered protective security advice by police according to the risk of physical harm.

Across Europe and North America, Iranian intelligence is involved in information collecting, luring targets to nearby countries, as well as plotting kidnappings and assassinations.