Reports: Iranian Dissident Wounded in Stabbing in the Netherlands

An Iranian dissident was reportedly seriously injured in a knife attack in the northern Dutch city of Leeuwarden. (AFP file photo)
An Iranian dissident was reportedly seriously injured in a knife attack in the northern Dutch city of Leeuwarden. (AFP file photo)
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Reports: Iranian Dissident Wounded in Stabbing in the Netherlands

An Iranian dissident was reportedly seriously injured in a knife attack in the northern Dutch city of Leeuwarden. (AFP file photo)
An Iranian dissident was reportedly seriously injured in a knife attack in the northern Dutch city of Leeuwarden. (AFP file photo)

An Iranian dissident was seriously injured in a knife attack in the northern Dutch city of Leeuwarden, a local newspaper reported on Saturday, citing the victim’s family.

The man, who was named by the Leeuwarden Courant newspaper as Sadegh Zarza, fled Iran in the 1980s and currently serves on the board of a Dutch organization that is critical of Tehran.

Police in the city confirmed that a 64-year-old man was stabbed on Friday and said a 38-year-old suspect who lives in Rotterdam had been arrested at the scene. The newspaper said the suspect was an Iranian national.

“We see that several videos of this incident are being circulated on social media,” police said in a statement, according to Reuters. “We ask you not to re-share them.”

The man was stabbed repeatedly and suffered serious injuries, but is expected to recover.

In January 2019, the European Union ordered sanctions against Iran after France, Denmark and the Netherlands said Tehran had plotted attacks in Europe, including political killings of Iranians living in the Netherlands in 2015 and 2017.

Tehran denied any involvement in the alleged attacks.



Russia Says It Destroyed 300 Ukrainian Drones, Hit Sapsan Missile Storage Sites

Service members of the 127th Separate Heavy Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attend a training as recruits, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine August 16, 2025. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova
Service members of the 127th Separate Heavy Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attend a training as recruits, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine August 16, 2025. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova
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Russia Says It Destroyed 300 Ukrainian Drones, Hit Sapsan Missile Storage Sites

Service members of the 127th Separate Heavy Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attend a training as recruits, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine August 16, 2025. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova
Service members of the 127th Separate Heavy Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attend a training as recruits, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine August 16, 2025. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova

Russian forces shot down 300 Ukrainian drones and struck storage sites for Sapsan missiles while fierce battles raged in the Donetsk region where Ukrainian forces were trying to halt a Russian advance, the defense ministry and war bloggers said.

Russia's defense ministry said Russian forces had gained better positions near the settlement of Zolotyi Kolodiaz in the Donetsk region, though pro-Ukrainian maps showed that Ukrainian forces had contained the Russian advance.

The defense ministry said war planes, drones and missiles had been used to strike Ukrainian storage sites for Sapsan missiles across the country.

"Four guided aerial bombs and 300 aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down by air defense systems," the ministry said.