Reuters - 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. “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.


Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Helen Popper