An Iranian television presenter, who was attacked in London by men believed to be acting for the Tehran regime, has moved abroad, saying that he no longer felt safe in the UK.
Pouria Zeraati said the UK’s approach to the threat posed by Iran on British soil could not guarantee his safety.
Zeraati, a presenter for Iran International, a Persian-language news channel, was stabbed by a group of men outside his home in Wimbledon, south London, in March.
Leading up to the attack, the London-based channel received repeated threats from Iran, with UK intelligence services foiling at least 15 plots to either kidnap or kill employees of the TV station.
Now, reluctantly, the 36-year-old has left London with his wife, saying the UK government’s strategy towards the Iranian regime meant that it felt able to strike on British soil with few repercussions.
Speaking from a location he did not want to publicise, Zeraati said: “The place I live right now is a little safer.”
Officers from SO15, the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism command, have briefed their counterparts in the undisclosed country of the risk posed to Zeraati by the Iranian regime.
“There have been communications between the UK police and the police here,” Zeraati said. “They know about my situation and have taken extra measures to make sure I’m safe.”
Transnational repression is the state-led targeting of refugees, dissidents and ordinary citizens living in exile. It involves the use of electronic surveillance, physical assault, intimidation and threats against family members to silence criticism. The Guardian’s Rights and freedom series is publishing a series of articles to highlight the dangers faced by citizens in countries including the UK.
Before his move, SO15 officers had told Zeraati that he would be secure in the UK. “The police said, ‘You are safe right now. You are living in a safe country, there is no severe and imminent threat.’ But I replied that there was no imminent threat against me before the attack.”
His move will raise fresh questions over how safe the UK is for dissidents targeted by foreign states.
Counter-terrorism police are continuing to investigate the attack, with one line of inquiry being that the group who attacked Zeraati belong to a criminal gang from eastern Europe.
The Iranian regime has used criminal proxies to target critics on western soil previously – hiring individuals with no apparent link to Iran makes it harder for police to counter a potential attack.
Less than four hours after stabbing Zeraati in the leg, three suspects flew out of Heathrow airport. Zeraati said a Met officer had warned him that a follow-up attack might be fatal.
“One of the officers involved in the case said what they did to me was a warning shot. When criminal gangs warn someone before killing them, they stab them in the back of the leg. It was a very clear message: ‘We will kill you next time.’”
A recent report – based on testimony from dozens of exiled Iranian journalists living in the UK – revealed that the level of transnational threat they are facing is “unprecedented”. Almost 90% of journalists from the country surveyed by the press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders confirmed they had experienced online threats or harassment in the past five years.
Last year, staff at the BBC’s Persian-language news service in London told the Guardian that they were terrified of walking alone after being harassed by the Iranian authorities.
Despite such levels of intimidation and signs that Iran was prepared to orchestrate physical attacks on UK soil, Zeraati said the UK’s approach meant the Iranian regime was able to act with near impunity.
After revelations last December that Tehran was plotting to kill two other Iran International journalists in Britain, the Foreign Office announced sanctions against members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
However, Zeraati – who said he had recovered physically, though not mentally, from the attack – said the sanctions were too obscure and did little to punish Tehran.
“They were nonsense sanctions,” he said. “The attack on me happened about three and a half months later. That shows the policies are not working.”
Instead, he said, the UK should hurt the Iranian regime by targeting their assets and showing there was a “financial consequence” for committing criminal acts on British soil.
“If there is some sort of consequence like that, the Iranian regime will reconsider acting like this,” added Zeraati.
Zeraati is among many calling for the British government to proscribe the IRGC, an arm of the Iranian state, as a terrorist organisation. The previous UK government’s position was to swerve the issue to maintain direct diplomatic relations with Iran. The new Labour government is reported to be unlikely to rush into a decision.
Iran International says it provides independent coverage of events in the country but the regime in Tehran has declared it a terrorist organisation and said its workers would be pursued by its security services.
The Iranian chargé d’affaires in the UK, which serves as the head of its diplomatic mission, has denied any link between the Iranian regime and the attack on Zeraati.
The Metropolitan police has been contacted for comment.
