NGO Urges UK Probe for Transnational Repression in Iranian Journalist Attack

Freedom House is urging British authorities to investigate this week’s stabbing attack on Iran International journalist Pouria Zeraati, as a possible act of transnational repression.

In a tweet, the Washington-based NGO said the attack “highlights the very real dangers that hound many journalists reporting from exile”.

Iran International TV host and journalist Pouria Zeraatia was stabbed several times by unidentified individuals outside of his home in Wimbledon last Friday. He has since been released from hospital.

Describing the attack on Zeraati “awful” the NGO also called for those responsible to be held “fully accountable”.

This week, Metropolitan Police confirmed that the three individuals suspected of being involved in the stabbing have left the UK.

Citing its own research on transnational repression, Freedom House said at least 26 governments have “reached across borders” to target exiled journalists – including Iran.

The NGO also highlighted the threat faced by two other Iran International journalists, who were targeted in an Iranian regime plot to assassinate them, writing that the plot was the regime’s attempt to disrupt coverage of the Woman, Life, Freedom protests.

Titled “A Light That Cannot Be Extinguished”, Freedom House’s December 2023 report mentions the Islamic Republic among governments known for targeting journalists working abroad.

The report also points out that China, Turkey, Russia, and Saudi Arabia have targeted journalists beyond their borders, either through physical attacks or attempts to silence them.

Between 2014 and 2023, the NGO says, there have been at least 112 instances of state-sponsored physical repression against journalists – including physical assault, detention, abduction, and unlawful expulsion.

These governments try to stop the dissemination of truth, using intimidation tactics targeting journalists' families, including summoning and detaining them. They also often use online harassment and smear campaigns to threaten and suppress journalists.

Freedom House points to various pressures exiled journalists, particularly on women, face in performing their work – and in particular, the threats Iran International faces as a news network.

In 2023, the report says, the UK police alerted Iran International to a serious, urgent, and specific threat against journalists and the network's offices in London – which prompted the temporary relocation of its studios to Washington, DC.