Investigators believe the three suspects wanted in connection with the stabbing death of an Iranian dissident journalist on a street outside London are from Eastern Europe and were hired and flown to Britain to carry out the attack.
Puglia Zerati survived after being stabbed in the leg in Wimbledon, south-west London, last month. His TV channel, Iran International, has previously received threats, which he and his supporters blame on the Iranian regime.
Detectives believe the three Eastern European suspects fled the UK soon after the attack, flying to another destination on a commercial plane from Heathrow Airport within hours.
Counter-terrorism police and British security services are leading the investigation, and the attack appears to be the latest example of the Iranian regime using criminal proxies to carry out acts of violence against its Western critics. There is.
The three men are believed to have entered the UK shortly before the Zelati attack. British investigators are investigating whether one of the suspects has links to Albania.
The person behind the attack is most likely someone acting on behalf of the interests of the Iranian regime, who used his connections and knowledge with criminal organizations to hire the attackers, Western sources said. I believe.
British counter-terrorism bosses say the use of criminal agents gives the Iranian government the possibility of deniability and could put those employed on watchlists or heightened vigilance if they enter the UK. is considered to be low.
Zelati was attacked as he approached his car on March 29.
In a media interview, Ms Zelati said a man approached her and demanded £3, before a second man approached her and she was then detained and seen with a knife. He said he was hit in the leg. Nothing was taken from him.
Mr Zelati told ITV News of his suspicions about the motive.: “That was the moment I realized that it was related to my work.
“I think it was a warning shot.”
A third man was waiting in a blue Mazda and drove all three men away. The Mazda was later found abandoned several miles away in New Malden.
Immediately after the attack, the Metropolitan District said: “As the victim was a journalist with a Farsi-language news organization based in the UK and previous threats had also been directed at this group of journalists, the incident is being investigated by specialist police personnel.”The Met’s Counter-Terrorism Command …
“After abandoning the vehicle, the suspects drove straight to Heathrow Airport and left the UK within hours of the attack.”
Detective Superintendent Dominic Murphy added: “We are currently working with our international partners to establish further details.
“Again, we are still in the early stages of the investigation and do not know why this victim was attacked, and there are many possible explanations for this.”
After newsletter promotion
Iran’s charge d’affaires in the UK, Seyyed Mehdi Hosseini Matin, denied that his government was involved.
Counterterrorism investigators say a series of plots to “kidnap and even kill individuals deemed enemies of the Iranian regime” have been hatched and largely thwarted since 2022.
Matt Jewkes, the UK’s deputy counter-terrorism chief, warned in January that an emerging trend was for hostile states like Iran to use criminal agents. There is an overlap between actors and organized crime.
“The major factor involved is, of course, money, but so is the use of criminal agents to carry out hostile regime operations.
“Why do it yourself when you can arrange for organized criminals to distance and disavow on your behalf?”
In December 2023, the man was convicted of robbery. Hostile reconnaissance aboard the Chiswick, an Iranian international base west of London.. Magomed Hussein Dokhtaev flew into Gatwick Airport from Vienna in February 2023 and then took a minitaxi to the Chiswick site.
Security guards thought the man was suspicious and called police.
Mr Dokhtaev, who was born in Chechnya, flew into Gatwick Airport in February and took a taxi to the TV channel’s base in a business park in west London, where he was discovered and reported to police. He was found guilty of attempting to gather information likely to be useful in terrorism and sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
U.S. authorities also believe they have witnessed an Iranian-orchestrated plot using criminal agents from Eastern Europe to stage assassination attempts against dissidents.
