UK Anti-terrorism Police Investigate Stabbing of Iranian Journalist

The former headquarters of Iran International
The former headquarters of Iran International
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UK Anti-terrorism Police Investigate Stabbing of Iranian Journalist

The former headquarters of Iran International
The former headquarters of Iran International

British counter-terrorism detectives are investigating after a journalist working for a Persian language media organization was stabbed in London on Friday amid fears he had been targeted because of his job, police said.
Police said the man, aged in his 30s, was attacked and sustained an injury to his leg in the incident in Wimbledon, southwest London, on Friday afternoon.
Britain's National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said the victim was prominent British-based Iranian journalist Pouria Zeraati, who hosts a show on the Persian language television news network Iran International which is critical of Iran's government.
Police said his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening and he was in a stable condition, Reuters reported.
"This cowardly attack on Pouria is deeply shocking, and our thoughts are with him, his family and all of his colleagues at Iran International," Michelle Stanistreet, the NUJ general secretary said in a statement.
In January, Britain imposed sanctions on Iranian officials it said were involved in threats to kill journalists on British soil.
Those officials were members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Unit 840, which an investigation by ITV news in Britain said was involved in plots to assassinate two television presenters from Iran International in the UK.
"While we are keeping an open mind, given the occupation of the victim and our publicized concerns about the threat to employees of that organization, the investigation is being led by the Counter Terrorism Command," Commander Dominic Murphy, the head of that unit, said.
"I must stress that, at this early stage of our investigation, we do not know the reason why this victim was attacked and there could be a number of explanations for this."



No Way to Restart Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant at Present, IAEA Chief Says

A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. (Reuters)
A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. (Reuters)
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No Way to Restart Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant at Present, IAEA Chief Says

A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. (Reuters)
A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. (Reuters)

Conditions for restarting Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant do not exist at present due to a lack of water for cooling and the absence of a stable power supply, the head of the UN's nuclear safety watchdog said on Tuesday.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told Reuters in an interview in Kyiv that water would have to be pumped from the Dnipro River for the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is currently shut down, to restart.

The facility, in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region, was occupied by Russia in March 2022, shortly after it launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

Grossi said the Russians had "never hidden the fact" that they want to restart the plant, but they would not be able to do so soon.

"We are not in a situation of imminent restart of the plant. Far from that, it would take quite some time before that can be done," Grossi said.

The IAEA chief added that the plant's machinery, which has not been operating for three years, would have to be thoroughly inspected before any restart.

Ukraine has said that an attempt by Russian technicians to restart the plant would be dangerous because they are not certified to operate the Zaporizhzhia plant.

Grossi said Russian nuclear staff were capable of conducting a restart, and that the issue of certification was a political rather than technical one.

Ukraine has also protested at the IAEA's monitoring mission to the plant accessing it via Russian-occupied territory.

Grossi said this was to protect the safety of his staff, and that at present he does not have the necessary guarantees from the Russian side to safely transit IAEA staff through the frontlines to Ukraine-controlled territory, as had been done several times before.