UK police: Suspects flee country hours after stabbing Iranian journalist

“Detectives have established the sufferer was approached by two males in a residential avenue and attacked. The suspects fled the scene in a car pushed by a 3rd male,” London’s Metropolitan Police (the Met) stated in a press release.

The sufferer, in his 30s, sustained harm to his leg during the assault in Wimbledon, southwest London, on Friday afternoon. Police stated he has since been discharged from hospital.

Escaping the nation after the assault

Police stated that after abandoning the car, the suspects travelled on to Heathrow Airport and left the UK a couple of hours after the assault.

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Britain’s Nationwide Union of Journalists (NUJ) stated the sufferer was British-based Iranian journalist Pouria Zeraati, who hosts a present on the Persian language TV information community Iran Worldwide, which is vital to Iran’s authorities.

Police stated it remained unclear why the sufferer was attacked, and officers are “conserving open thoughts as to any motivation behind this.”

Counter-terrorism detectives were investigating the incident. As a result, the sufferer was a journalist at a Persian language media group primarily based in Britain, and former threats had been directed in the direction of this group of journalists, the Met stated.

In January, Britain imposed sanctions, in coordination with the USA, on Iranian officers it stated have been concerned with threats to kill journalists on British soil and others it said have been a part of worldwide felony gangs linked to Iran.