Federal jury convicts 2 of Iran-backed murder-for-hire plot to kill U.S. journalist
A federal jury convicted two European men in a plot to assassinate an Iranian-American journalist in exchange for $500,000 from the Iranian government, the Justice Department announced.
Rafat Amirov of Iran and Polad Omarov of Georgia were found guilty in connection with the 2022 murder-for-hire scheme, the Justice Department said in a Friday press release. The plot targeted Masih Alinejad, who is a staunch critic of the Iranian government.
'The Iranian regime's brazen plot to silence and murder Americans will not be tolerated,' Sue J. Bai, head of the DOJ's National Security Division, said in the release.
According to Alinejad's nonprofit on compulsory hijab in Iran, she worked as a journalist covering the nation's parliament for several years before leaving in 2009. In the U.S., she hosted Voice of America's satirical news show "Tablet" and freelanced for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and the Independent.
Alinejad posted on X Thursday about the verdict. She shared relief about the jury's decision but said "the real masterminds" are in power in Iran and she's "waiting for the day when Ali Khamenei and his terrorist Revolutionary Guards face justice."
"For the first time, the regime of the Islamic Republic is being held accountable for bringing its campaign of terror to U.S. soil," she wrote. "This is just the beginning of exposing and dismantling its network of violence."
Omarov's lawyer Elena Fast said she respected the jury's verdict but would appeal. Amirov's lawyer didn't immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment.
According to court papers, Amirov and Omarov were high-ranking members of the Bazghandi Network, an Eastern European crime organization. Ranking members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps told the two to kill Alinejad, court papers said.
The IRGC is a branch of the Iranian armed forces and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S., according to the National Counter Terrorism Center. The Bazghandi Network is named after Ruhollah Bazghandi, a brigadier general of the IRGC who previously served as chief of the corps' counterintelligence department, the Justice Department said in October.
Alinejad has been a target of the IRGC as recently as 2020 because she criticized Iran and publicized the nation's human rights abuses across the globe, prosecutors said Friday.
"After these brazen efforts to kidnap Alinejad from the U.S. failed, the IRGC turned to Amirov and Omarov to locate, surveil, and murder her," the department said in the release. "Beginning in approximately July 2022, Amirov sent targeting information - which he had received directly from IRGC officials in Iran - about Alinejad to Omarov."
Omarov shared that information with Khalid Mehdiyev, a member of the Bazghandi Network, so Mehdiyev could monitor Alinejad, according to court papers. Mehdiyev sent reports and information about the journalist's whereabouts to Omarov and others in exchange for money. He used the funds to buy an AK-47-style rifle, two magazines and at least 66 rounds of ammunition.
More: Iranian military official, 3 others charged in plot to assassinate journalist in New York
"On July 27, 2022, Omarov told Amirov that Mehdiyev was ready to kill Alinejad, writing 'this matter will be over today. I told them to make a birthday present for me. I pressured them, they will sleep there this night,'" according to the DOJ release.
Police stopped Mehdiyev for a traffic violation the next day and found the AK-47-style rifle, ammunition, a black ski mask and about $1,100 in cash during a vehicle search. Mehdiyev testified at the trial that he was at Alinejad's to "try to kill the journalist."
Alinejad also testified, saying she saw a large man standing among flowers in her front yard in the summer of 2022, the same time Mehdiyev said he watched her home.
"The guy was a little bit suspicious so I got panicked," Alinejad testified. "He was in the sunflowers, like, staring into my eyes."
U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon will sentence Omarov and Amirov on Sept. 17. They could face up to life in prison for the possession and use of a gun in connection with the attempted murder charge.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Matthew Podolsky said Friday that Iran has tried for years to "silence an outspoken Iranian journalist, author, activist and critic of their regime through any means necessary."
He later added the verdict "should send a clear message around the world: if you target U.S. citizens, we will find you, no matter where you are, and bring you to justice."
Others arrested in the plot are: Zialat Mamedov of Georgia; Ruhollah Bazghandi of Iran; Fnu Lnu, also known as Haj Taher, of Iran; Hossein Sedighi of Iran; and Seyed Mohammad Forouzan of Iran. Prosecutors said after the DOJ exposed the murder plot, those in the Bazghandi Network monitored other members' court cases and targeted Alinejad.
President Donald Trump issued a presidential memorandum in February, restoring his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran that he used in his first term as president. According to the memo, Trump ordered the Department of the Treasury secretary to impose "maximum economic pressure" on the country using sanctions and other measures.
Nearly a month later, Trump sent a letter to Iran's Western Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in March seeking to negotiate a nuclear deal with the Middle Eastern nation. He told Fox Business Network that "there are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal."
Khamenei said days later that the country won't be bullied into negotiations and won't accept the U.S.'s expectations, Iranian state media reported.
Speaking to Trump in the post, Alinejad said the murder plot was bigger than her and a matter of national security.
"The Iranian regime doesn't just hate me; they hate the very principles that define America, freedom, democracy, and free speech. If they can send assassins to kill a journalist on American soil, they can threaten anyone. Will you take action before it's too late?"
Contributing: Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY; Reuters.
Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at knurse@USATODAY.com. Follow her on X @KrystalRNurse, and on BlueSky @krystalrnuse.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jury convicts 2 men in Iran-backed murder plot of U.S. journalist
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