Two convicted in US of Iran-backed plot to kill journalist
NEW YORK, March 21 - Two men who U.S. prosecutors say belong to a Russian organized crime group were convicted of involvement in an unsuccessful Iran-backed plot to kill a prominent New York-based dissident and journalist.
A jury in Manhattan federal court found Rafat Amirov, 46, and Polad Omarov, 40, guilty on Thursday of five charges including murder-for-hire over the planned assassination in 2022 of Masih Alinejad, a U.S.-Iranian and outspoken critic of Tehran and its treatment of women.
Elena Fast, a lawyer for Omarov, said she respected the jury's verdict but would appeal. Lawyers for Amirov did not respond to requests for comment.
The case was part of a crackdown by the Justice Department on what it calls transnational repression, the targeting by authoritarian governments of political opponents on foreign soil.
Prosecutors said Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps paid Amirov and Omarov $500,000 for the botched hit on Alinejad. She fled Iran in 2009.
A representative of Tehran's mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment. Iran has called allegations its intelligence officers sought to kidnap Alinejad baseless.
Jurors at the two-week trial heard testimony from Khalid Mehdiyev, a self-proclaimed mob associate of Amirov and Omarov who in July 2022 staked out Alinejad's Brooklyn home.
He was arrested after running a stop sign, and police found an AK-47 rifle in his car.
'I was there to try to kill the journalist,' Mehdiyev testified. Mehdiyev, 27, cooperated with prosecutors after pleading guilty to attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm.
Jurors also heard from Alinejad, who testified she saw a large man standing among flowers in her front yard in the summer of 2022, the same time Mehdiyev said he staked out 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."
Omarov and Amirov could face life in prison when they are sentenced by U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon on Sept. 17.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
35 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump says meeting on Iran planned for Thursday
WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said the U.S. and Iran would continue talks on Thursday for a nuclear deal, adding that Tehran was a tough negotiator and that the main impediment to an agreement was over enrichment. "We're doing a lot of work on Iran right now," Trump told reporters at an economic event at the White House. "It's tough. ... They're great negotiators." "They're just asking for things that you can't do. They don't want to give up what they have to give up," he added. "They seek enrichment. We can't have enrichment. We want just the opposite. And so far, they're not there." "They have given us their thoughts on the deal. And I said, you know, it's just not acceptable," Trump said as Tehran plans to hand Washington a counter-proposal. Trump also said he discussed Iran among other topics with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, adding that the call went well.
Channel 4
an hour ago
- Channel 4
Gaza health ministry reports 14 killed in attack near aid site
Israeli forces and local gunmen, who appear to be working with them, have again opened fire on Palestinians heading to a US-backed food distribution centre. The Gaza Health Ministry and hospitals said 14 people were killed. Early this morning, Israel intercepted a boat of campaigners carrying aid trying to reach Gaza to break the sea blockade. On board were Greta Thunberg and 11 other activists, who were all detained and taken to Israel. Warning: this report includes distressing images from the start.
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
‘Something going on in jury room' at Weinstein trial, judge told
Jurors in Harvey Weinstein's MeToo retrial appeared far apart on a verdict as they returned to court on Monday for a third day of deliberations. The jury asked to be reminded of the definition of reasonable doubt and rules about avoiding a hung jury, and the foreperson sent a note saying he wanted to speak to the judge 'about a situation that isn't very good'. The foreperson told Judge Curtis Farber that he was concerned about 'something going on in the jury room'. He was then taken behind closed doors to discuss the matter with Mr Farber, prosecutors and the defence team. Weinstein waived his right to be present for that conversation, which was held in Mr Farber's robing room, outside the view of reporters and the public. It was not immediately clear what the foreperson said. Mr Farber has yet to give jurors the instructions they wanted reread to them. Juror asked to be removed After the closed-door conversation, Weinstein's lawyers returned to the courtroom and huddled around the court stenographer's machine, jotting down notes while Mr Farber heard another, unrelated case. The jury of seven women and five men began weighing charges against the former movie mogul on Thursday. Weinstein, 73, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of committing a criminal sex act and one count of rape. On Friday, a Weinstein juror asked to be removed from the case, saying he felt other jurors were treating one member of the panel in an 'unfair and unjust' way. The judge told him he had to keep deliberating and also denied a defence request for a mistrial over the issue. Weinstein was originally convicted in New York in 2020 of one count of rape and one count of sexual assault in a verdict considered a landmark in the MeToo movement. But the conviction was subsequently overturned, leading to his retrial – with an additional accuser added last year – before a new jury and a different judge. Weinstein was also convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape. After the 2020 conviction was thrown out, Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, opted to charge Weinstein again almost immediately, eventually bringing two counts of first-degree criminal sexual act and one count of third-degree rape against him. Weinstein denies the charges, alleging the sexual encounters were consensual. His lawyer Arthur Aidala said the Oscar-winning producer had 'mutually beneficial' relationships with his accusers, who ended up with auditions and other show business opportunities.
