Jury convicts 2 men of plotting to assassinate an Iranian American journalist in New York
The verdict was returned at a federal court in New York on Thursday, ending a two-week trial that featured dramatic testimony from a hired gunman and Alinejad, an author, activist and contributor to Voice of America.
Prosecutors said the convicted men, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, were crime bosses in the Russian mob. Their lawyers argued that they were innocent and trial evidence was flawed.
Alinejad, 48, was targeted by Iran for her online campaigns encouraging women there to record videos of themselves exposing their hair in violation of edicts requiring they cover it in public.
Iran offered $500,000 for a July 2022 killing of Alinejad after efforts to harass, smear and intimidate Alinejad failed, prosecutors said.
American officials have accused Iran of backing several assassination plots in the United States, including against President Donald Trump when he was campaigning last year. Tehran has denied being behind any plots to kill people in the U.S.
Alinejad, who was not in court, told The Associated Press she cried when she learned about the verdict.
'I am relieved that after nearly three years, the men who plotted to kill me have been found guilty. But make no mistake, the real masterminds of this crime are still in power in Iran,' she said.
Alinejad testified last week that she came to the United States in 2009 after she was banned from covering Iran's disputed presidential election and the newspaper where she worked was shut down.
Establishing herself in New York City, she built an online audience of millions and launched her 'My Stealthy Freedom' campaign, telling Iranian women to send photos and videos of them exposing their hair when the morality police were not around.
Soon, she said, she had inspired women to take to the streets in Iran on Wednesdays to peacefully protest, leading the government to arrest hundreds of them. The crackdown only caused her following to grow, however.
At the trial, prosecutors said that by 2022, the Iranian government had enlisted organized crime figures, including Amirov and Omarov, to kill Alinejad.
Khalid Mehdiyev, a former member of the Russian mob who lived in Yonkers and worked at a pizzeria, testified that he was hired as the hitman. Like Amirov and Omarov, he is from Azerbaijan, which shares a border and cultural ties with Iran.
Mehdiyev, who cooperated with prosecutors after pleading guilty to multiple crimes, said he bought an AK-47 to kill Alinejad but the plan was foiled when his car was stopped by police and the gun was found in the back seat in July 2022. A doorbell camera at Alinejad's home recorded Mehdiyev standing on her front porch.
Prosecutors have kept the investigation open. In October they announced charges against a senior Iranian military official and three others, none of whom are in custody.
In a separate case, U.S. prosecutors in 2022 charged a man in Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard with plotting to kill former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton.
Iranian officials vowed to exact revenge against Trump and others in his former administration over the 2020 drone strike that killed the prominent Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.
Alinejad said she has had to move nearly two dozen times since the assassination plot was discovered, at times feeling guilty that so many of her followers in Iran lack a safety net.
That, she said, only 'makes me more determined to give voice to voiceless people.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
13 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump launches natsec probe into wind imports
Energy & Environment The Big Story Wind turbines, components come under scrutiny The Trump administration has launched a national security probe into imports of wind turbines and their components — a move that could ultimately lead to higher tariffs for wind energy. The probe, which marks the latest salvo in the administration's efforts to stymie wind energy, was announced in a Federal Register notice Thursday. 'On August 13, 2025, the Secretary of Commerce initiated an investigation to determine the effects on the national security of imports of wind turbines and their parts and components,' the notice says. It does not explicitly lay out the reasons for or evidence behind the probe, and the Bureau of Industry and Security did not immediately respond to questions from The Hill. But the administration requested information from the public on topics including the role of foreign supply chains, the impact of foreign government subsidies and predatory trade practices and whether there's any ability to weaponize foreign-built wind turbines and their parts. It comes after the administration earlier this week increased steel and aluminum tariffs for hundreds of products, including wind turbines. Welcome to The Hill's Energy & Environment newsletter, I'm Rachel Frazin — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Essential Reads How policy will affect the energy and environment sectors now and in the future: White House unveils details for EU trade deal The White House unveiled details for its trade deal with the European Union (EU) on Thursday. Full Story Navarro expects no extension for 50 percent tariffs on India for buying Russian oil White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said Thursday that he doesn't expect President Trump to extend the timeline on doubling tariffs on India as a penalty for buying Russian oil beyond next week. Full Story Montana Republicans call for 50 percent tariff on Russian palladium imports The Montana congressional delegation is urging President Trump to introduce a 50 percent tariff on Russian palladium imports, after a multinational mining group with a presence in the state submitted a similar request earlier this month. Full Story What We're Reading News we've flagged from other outlets touching on energy issues, the environment and other topics: What Others are Reading Two key stories on The Hill right now: Supreme Court allows Trump to gut DEI-linked NIH grants The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling Thursday, enabled the Trump administration to cancel hundreds of millions of dollars in National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants linked to diversity initiatives. Read more Cracker Barrel redesign faces backlash, causes political frenzy Cracker Barrel, the 'old country store' eatery that has been a staple of interstate detour dining since its growth in the 1990s, is facing backlash and becoming a point of partisan conflict as the chain tries to meet modern times. Read more
The Hill
13 minutes ago
- The Hill
Zelensky accuses Russia of ‘deliberate' attack on American-owned factory
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday accused Russia of launching a 'deliberate' attack on an American-owned facility in his country, amid signs that the Kremlin is slow-walking a peace deal to end the yearslong conflict. 'In Mukachevo, the Russians practically burned down an American company producing electronics—home appliances, nothing military. The Russians knew exactly where they lobbed the missiles,' Zelensky wrote in a post on the social platform X. 'We believe this was a deliberate attack against American property and investments in Ukraine,' he continued. The Texas-based electronics manufacturing company, Flex Ltd., confirmed its facility in Mukachevo, Ukraine, was damaged early Thursday in a missile strike, which injured 'a few employees and contractors.' Zelensky underscored the relevance of the timing of the attack— less than a week after the Russian leader met with President Trump in Alaska and just days after Zelensky and European leaders huddled at the White House to discuss next steps toward a peace deal. 'Telling attack, right as the world awaits a clear answer from Russia on negotiations to end the war,' he said. Zelensky noted that the potential next steps that Trump laid out — a bilateral meeting with Zelensky and Putin, followed by a trilateral meeting that Trump would join — were discussed in Washington and in a phone call between Trump and Putin. Zelensky said Putin appeared to be 'trying to wriggle out' of a meeting to end the war in Ukraine. 'Now, the signals coming from Russia are simply outrageous,' Zelensky said. 'They are trying to wriggle out of holding a meeting. They don't want to end this war. They continue their massive attacks on Ukraine and their ferocious assaults along the frontline.' Zelensky pointed to the attack on the American company and to the proximity of the strikes to NATO borders as 'not accidents,' but 'Russian impudence.' 'We expect our partners to respond in a principled manner,' Zelensky said. 'This war must be brought to an end. Pressure must be exerted on Russia to end the war. Putin understands nothing but force and pressure.' He nodded to Trump's musings earlier Thursday about Ukraine launching an offensive inside Russia, saying the U.S. president is 'absolutely right—this must be done not only in defense.' Trump earlier this month had called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and threatened crippling sanctions on Russia, but largely dropped those demands after meeting with Putin in Alaska last week, instead pushing for a comprehensive peace deal.
Boston Globe
13 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Russia's strikes on US factory show it has no interest in peace, Ukraine says
The Biden administration limited the kinds of weapons sent to Ukraine to avoid antagonizing Russia, but the Trump administration has periodically cut off weapons supplies and now insists they be paid for. Advertisement Ukraine and its Western allies, including the US, are hammering out the 'architecture' of security guarantees for Ukraine that would be ready in the next seven to 10 days, Zelensky said in remarks released Thursday. After the talks, he hopes to meet with his Russian counterpart to discuss a final peace deal. The security talks are underway in Brussels. Advertisement If Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to meet with Zelensky, a key part of Trump's push for peace, Ukraine 'would like to see a strong reaction from the United States,' Zelensky added, suggesting measures to hurt Russia's economy, including secondary sanctions and tariffs on those trading with the country. While the White House has maintained that Russia has agreed to the bilateral meeting between the two leaders, and it could take place in a week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has repeatedly quashed expectations of anything imminent. 'Putin is ready to meet with Zelensky only if all issues requiring discussion at the highest level are thoroughly worked out,' he said Thursday, a process that could take a very long time. The overnight drone attack was noteworthy for going after targets in the far west of the country, including against an American-Singapore electronics company, Flex, which has a production facility in the city of Mukachevo, in the mountainous Transcarpathia region. That attack caused a large fire, injuring at least 19. 'It was an ordinary civilian enterprise, an American investment,' Zelensky wrote. 'They produced such familiar household items as coffee machines. And this is also a target for the Russians. Very telling.' Russian forces 'delivered this strike as if nothing had changed at all,' he said. 'There is still no signal from Moscow that they are really going to go into meaningful negotiations to end this war.' Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X that the Flex factory was a 'fully civilian facility that has nothing to do with defense or the military,' adding that Russian airstrikes had damaged other American businesses in the past, including the offices of Boeing earlier this year. Advertisement Russia's Defense Ministry said the overnight strikes targeted military and energy infrastructure. Zelensky and European leaders have called for a ceasefire in the fighting to assist negotiations — a demand that Trump had supported until an about-face after a meeting last week in Alaska with Putin. One of the major results of Monday's meeting in Washington between Zelensky, Trump, and European leaders was a pledge to come up with a framework for security guarantees to back any eventual peace deal to resolve the conflict, now in its fourth year. Zelensky said the guarantees, which would assure that Russia would not launch another assault on Ukraine in the years to come, would be similar to NATO's Article 5, which assures mutual defense by all its members if one member is attacked. In his remarks Thursday, however, Lavrov accused Ukraine and European leaders of seeking to roll back the progress of the Putin-Trump meeting in Alaska and maintained that talk of security guarantees had involved Russian participation. 'Everything else is a futile endeavor,' he said. 'Providing Ukraine with security guarantees through foreign military intervention is completely unacceptable,' he added. 'Ukraine is clearly demonstrating that it is not interested in a sustainable and long-term resolution of the conflict.' The overnight assault brought wave after wave of missiles and drones launched from various locations in Russia and lasted for hours until the all clear sounded after 6 a.m. At least one person was killed in the western city of Lviv, city officials wrote on social media. The missiles and drones hit 11 locations and falling debris damaged another three sites, Ukraine's air force said on Telegram. In Lviv, 'strikes were recorded in several districts of the city at multiple locations,' the emergency services wrote. 'Private houses, nonresidential buildings, and vehicles were damaged. Fires broke out.' Advertisement Ukrainian drones, meanwhile, struck Russia's Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in the nearby Rostov region in a continuing campaign against the country's refinery capacity that has sent gasoline prices soaring. The Moscow Times has calculated that repeated strikes in August have already disabled 13 percent of the country's refining capacity, shutting down at least four refineries. Local media have reported gas lines in some cities and record prices at the pump.
