Two men convicted of wounding journalist ‘on orders of Iran’

CCTV issued by police of, from left, Nandito Badea, George Stana and David Andrei at Heathrow. Badea and Stana have been found guilty of attacking the journalist Pouria Zeraati. Photograph: Counter Terrorism Policing/PA View image in fullscreen CCTV issued by police of, from left, Nandito Badea, George Stana and David Andrei at Heathrow. Badea and Stana have been found guilty of attacking the journalist Pouria Zeraati. Photograph: Counter Terrorism Policing/PA Two men convicted of wounding journalist in London ‘on orders of Iran’ Pouria Zeraati of Iran International TV was stabbed three times outside his London home in attempt to ‘silence’ him Two men have been found guilty of involvement in a targeted knife attack on an Iranian journalist in London said to have been carried out on behalf of the regime in Tehran. Pouria Zeraati, a British journalist of Iranian origin, was working for Iran International, a Farsi-language dissident broadcaster, when he was stabbed in the leg outside his west London home in 2024. On Friday, jurors found Nandito Badea, 21, and George Stana, 25, guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The Romanians, who had denied the charges, will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on 3 July. A third man accused of involvement, David Andrei, was arrested in Romania but was not involved in the trial at Woolwich crown court in south-east London. View image in fullscreen Pouria Zeraati, a British journalist of Iranian origin, was stabbed three times in the thigh as he walked to his Wimbledon home. Photograph: @POURIAZERAATI Zeraati was stabbed three times in the thigh as he walked to his Wimbledon home in 2024, in a “planned attack preceded by reconnaissance which was ordered by a third party acting on behalf of the Iranian state”. Prosecutors said the pair had targeted Zeraati, whose channel’s opposition coverage and Saudi backing led Tehran to designate it as a terrorist organisation in 2022. Jurors were shown images of posters in Tehran that featured journalists including Zeraati with the words “Wanted: dead or alive”. Duncan Atkinson KC, prosecuting, said all three men had acted as a team and carried out “extensive surveillance and reconnaissance” for the attack “ordered by a third party”. View image in fullscreen CCTV of the attack in Wimbledon showing Nandito Badea, left, and Pouria Zeraati, right. Photograph: Counter-terrorism policing/PA Badea wielded the knife while Andrei, not on trial, was also part of the attack, according to the victim. Stana waited in a getaway car spotted on CCTV footage during “hostile reconnaissance” carried out before the attack. Badea and Stana told police they were surprised by the stabbing and claimed Andrei was the real culprit Their presence in the UK was funded by others, including a company called Hemroc Ltd through Stana’s sister’s Revolut account. Jurors were told the attackers were seen laughing as they fled the scene. View image in fullscreen Pouria Zeraati's photograph, to