Iranian journalist targeted by fake JPost reporter defiant after stabbing - interview

• Published date: 18 April 2024
• Author: MICHAEL STARR
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

For Zeraati, the threats, the stabbing, and even attempts by a fake Jerusalem Post journalist to speak to him are part of his job as a journalist, and he's not backing down

Zeraati went outside of his house and headed to his car. He was on his way to the studio to record his weekly analysis talk show. A suspicious man intercepted Zeraati in front of his car. The journalist slowed down.

"Do you have three pounds change?" the man asked.

Zeraati relaxed, thinking him a beggar. He moved to maneuver around him, explaining that he had no change on him. Suddenly, a second man appeared. He grabbed Zeraati from behind. He couldn't move. The fake beggar drew a knife, and repeatedly plunged it into his leg.

At first Zeraati thought it was a robbery, but after they fled without his phone, wallet, or watch, he realized otherwise. A neighbor saw the two men run to a Blue Mazda, where a getaway driver was waiting for them. The car sped off, but the neighbor managed to jot down the plate number before helping Zeraati stop the bleeding. With his pants and shoes drenched in blood, Zeraati called the police.

Investigating London incident

He had an officer assigned to him due to the months of threats he had endured prior to the attack, and the officers quickly arrived at the scene.

The police announced in April that they had found the getaway car – abandoned.

"The investigation team has established that after abandoning the vehicle, the suspects traveled directly to Heathrow Airport and left the UK within a few hours of the attack," the police said in a statement.

It wasn't a robbery, but Zeraati also later determined that neither was it homegrown Muslim extremists who attacked him for his criticism of the anti-Israel protests that had mobbed London since the October 7 Massacre. Extremists would have killed him. This, he said, was a calculated attack.

"They could have killed me if they wanted to," said Zeraati.

Police stated that they have identified the attackers and are working with international partners. The Guardian reported on Thursday that the three men were East European mercenaries, giving Iran plausible deniability. While the police had said that they are "keeping an open mind as to any motivation behind" the attack, Zeraati shared details about the case that he said made it clear that the Iranian regime's hand was on the hilt of the knife that had wounded him.

After all, the regime's threats against Zeraati had increased after he interviewed Prime Minister...