The Iranian government hired a criminal gang to stab a TV journalist in London in a campaign to target opponents of the regime, a court heard.

Pouria Zeraati, a presenter for dissident TV channel Iran International who has interviewed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was stabbed three times in broad daylight as he left his home in Wimbledon in March 2024.

He was crossing the road to his car when a hooded man jumped out demanding money before stabbing him in the thigh.

Woolwich Crown Court heard how the stabbing was carried out by three Romanian men acting as 'proxies' for Tehran who were motivated by money. 

Nandito Badea, 21, is accused of knifing the victim, while the journalist was allegedly being held by David Andrei, 22, who is not involved in the trial.

A third Romanian, George Stana, 25, is said to have acted as the getaway driver. 

The trio then allegedly dumped the car and took a taxi to Heathrow, flying to Geneva and then onward to their home country.

Duncan Atkinson KC, prosecuting, said the stabbing was part of a campaign to intimidate opponents of the Iranian regime who were wanted 'dead or alive'.

He told jurors that Iran has 'turned less to its own operatives and increasingly to use proxies such as criminal gangs' to carry out its threats. 

He added: 'That has included attacks on persons in this country who have become targets of Iranian intimidation and, effectively, terror'.

Journalists for Iran International have been subject to 'harassment and intimidation' because of the channel's support for opposition groups and its critical stance on the Islamic Republic. 

In 2022 the Persian-language media company was designated as a terrorist organisation by Tehran, which declared that anyone working with it would be deemed a threat to Iranian national security.

In November 2022 posters were put up in Tehran featuring journalists, including Zeraati, under the heading 'Wanted: dead or alive'. 

Mr Atkinson said the victim was an 'obvious and readily identifiable target for violence to be inflicted by proxies acting for the Islamic Republic of Iran'.

He added: 'This was no robbery, no fight that got out of control, it was deliberate, planned violence to achieve what it did, serious injury to its target.'

The prosecutor said it was 'a planned attack preceded by reconnaissance' ordered by a third party acting for Iran. 

Financial investigations later revealed the men were connected to a bank account in Romania which received funds from a firm linked to a business called Tehran Lounge, it was alleged.

Iran has denied any involvement. Badea and Stana both deny charges of wounding with intent and unlawful wounding.

The trial continues.