Security Measures at Business Park 'Foiled Car Bomb Plot'
Iranian regime accused of paying people-smuggler to murder journalists
Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev’s mini-cab at the main entrance to Chiswick Business Park. Picture: Met Police
December 24, 2023
An assassination plot against two journalists working in Chiswick using a car bomb was reportedly foiled last year after the business park boosted its security.
Details of the plan emerged following the conviction of Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev for performing a ‘hostile reconnaissance’ at the High Road office development.
It is understood that the findings of an investigation by ITV News' Global Security Editor Rohit Kachroo were not allowed to be published until the conclusion of the trial. The claims are backed up by video recordings and text messages that have been obtained which were exchanged as the plot developed last autumn.
The report says that the plan to kill two employees of the Saudi-funded Iran International TV channel was commissioned by associates of the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad who were also members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
$200,000 dollars was offered to the leader of a people smuggling ring named ‘Ismail’ who was told to target one male and one female presenter at the station dubbed “the bride and the groom”.
The intended victims of the so-called ‘Wedding Plot’ were Fardad Farahzad, who presented a nightly show on Iran International TV and Sima Sabet, who has a PHD in political science, and previously presented a talk show at 9pm on Iran International. Both were unaware they had been specifically targeted until informed by ITV.
The intention was to show critics of the Islamic Republic that the regime “could do harm to them at any time”. The IRGC, which is the primary branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, has been found on multiple occasions to have engaged non-Iranian criminals to carry out attacks, kidnappings and assassinations abroad against opponents and the ITV report suggests the planned attack in Chiswick followed this pattern.
Ismail spoke to ITV News about what he had been asked to do and shared evidence with the investigation team. The channel says his account has been verified by multiple official channels.
He said that he had been working with the IRGC since 2016 as it was aware of his people smuggling activities and had originally contacted him to work for it in the shipping industry.
Sima Sabet and Fardad Farahzad the 'bride and groom' allegedly targeted in the 'Wedding Plot'
In the autumn of 2022, the IRGC started discussions with him about assassination of the regime’s critics. However, by this time ‘Ismail’ was already acting as an informant for a western intelligence agency, the identity of which has not been revealed.
According to ITV News, he said that he was given commands by a man called Muhammed Abd al-Razek Kanafani. He has close ties to Syrian dictator President Bashar al-Assad but is also believed to be a member of Unit 840, a designated group within the IRGC. Kanafani assured Ismail that he was acting for the Iranians despite being based in Syria.
As well as offering him cash, Kanafani allegedly told him, “We can pave the way for you to live well and move easily from Syria to Iran without the need for passports or documentation. I will send a ship to take you to Syria, and from there to Iran, so you can board a plane and pass through airports without having to present documentation.”
Kanafani sent Ismail screengrabs of the two presenters’ Instagram profiles and followed up later with telephone calls saying that the pair had caused ‘a lot of humiliation to the regime’.
The report says that the real mastermind behind the attack was Mohammed Reza Ansari, a commander within the IRGC, who has been accused of being in charge of the regime’s programme of assassinations and kidnappings of critics beyond its borders. Recordings of conversations between Kanafani and Ansari show them talking about ‘the wedding’ in an attempt to disguise their intentions.
Ansari, who also has links to the family of the Syrian dictator, had recently been sanctioned by the US State Department.
According to Ismail, Kanafani told him, “This London thing must be done in any circumstances. We must finish them.”
The original intention was to plant a car bomb near to Building 11 in Chiswick Business Park but reconnaissance of the building revealed that security measures taken at the advice of MI5 had made this impractical.
Ismail told Kanafani that he had sent a friend to scope out Iran International’s headquarters and ‘nothing could be done there’ and he made a request for the home addresses of the targets.
He says he was told later in October 2022 that there was to be a switch in tactics with the targets to be attacked with knives near their homes as security was too tight at their work address in what Kanafani described as a ‘quiet wedding’.
Ismail told ITV, “It had to be done where they live, in their residence. In their home, in the lifts, on the stairs or in the corridors” with even a kitchen knife to be used if necessary.
Later on, the targets were changed with the director of the station becoming the primary focus as well as his deputy.
By this time specialist officers were aware of the plot and had advised Iran International and its employees to take further measures to protect their safety.
On 7 November 2022 Iran International went public with the information it had about the threats against them. A statement it made referred to the threat against the two directors as, at the time, it was unaware that the presenters had initially been targeted.
Despite the failure of Ismail to go through with the plans, it appears possible that the IRGC did not abandon its attempts. During the trial of Dovtaev it emerged that ‘others unknown’ had scouted out the business park prior to his arrival in February of this year.
Dovtaev, is an Austrian national who was born in Chechnya. By employing people like him in the field through proxies, it is claimed that the Iranian intelligence services hope to achieve plausible deniability after the attacks. Dovtaev never revealed who had instructed him to go to Chiswick Business Park and he communicated with his associates using an encrypted app which automatically deleted information on his phone.
The car bomb plot had been abandoned by the time Dovtaev arrived, but Iran International TV announced it was leaving Chiswick the week after his arrest. It initially switched to broadcasting from the US but has now returned to a new location in London.
Following Dovtaev’s conviction, Iran International said, “This trial was a reminder of the threats journalists and news organizations face. We will not be cowed by threats. Our journalists will continue to provide the independent, uncensored news the people of Iran deserve,”
A spokesperson for the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in London issued a statement in response to the ITV report saying, "The unsubstantial claims presented in the above mentioned report are not only devoid of factual merit but also appear to be rooted in preconceived notions and a Hollywood-style narrative to pursue their malicious scheme and goal against the Islamic Republic of Iran which was in the agenda of some war mongers inside the UK for a while.
"Iran as a responsible and transparent state is committed to its obligation according to international law and norms to not interfere in the internal affairs of any country.
"It is disheartening to observe commissioned reporting that exemplified by the recent ITV coverage, is not only condemned by strongly rejected."
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