Nandito Badea Says David Andrei Stabbed Pouria Zeraati in 2024 Attack as Iran Link Alleged
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 29
Nandito Badea Says David Andrei Stabbed Pouria Zeraati in 2024 Attack as Iran Link Alleged
1 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 29
Woolwich Crown Court heard Nandito Badea, 21, say David Andrei — not Badea — pulled the knife and stabbed Iranian opposition journalist Pouria Zeraati in Wimbledon on March 29, 2024.
Badea told jurors he believed he had been recruited for surveillance over an alleged affair, not an assault, after being lured from Romania with a promised £3,000-a-month construction job that never materialized.
His account said George Stana drove the group to Wimbledon, Andrei told him to ask Zeraati for £3 near his Tesla, and the three fled via Heathrow to Geneva before returning to Bucharest.
Badea said he later threatened to go to police but was slapped by Andrei and then warned by alleged recruiters Constantin Matache and Catalin Dumitru that he and his family would face repercussions.
Prosecutors say the stabbing was a planned attack carried out on behalf of Iran against Zeraati, an Iran International journalist who suffered three leg wounds; Badea and Stana deny wounding and GBH charges.
How did Romanian builders become the alleged hitmen in a state-sponsored plot on UK soil?
Is this London stabbing part of a wider Iranian terror campaign escalating across the United Kingdom?
Beyond convicting the foot soldiers, can the UK truly hold the Iranian state accountable for attacks on its soil?