Latest news with #Omarov
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Yahoo
A garden of sunflowers … and an AK-47: Iranian murder plot comes to Brooklyn
Masih Alinejad had just finished gathering tomatoes and cucumbers from the backyard garden of her Brooklyn home when she spotted a 'gigantic' man mulling about. At first, he seemed 'like a normal guy', the Iranian-American dissident writer recalled in court this week of a fateful day in late July 2022. 'He was walking and then he had a phone in his hand.' Alinejad saw him talking and said 'what?', thinking he was trying to speak with her. When Alinejad realized that he was speaking on the phone, she said 'sorry' and grew worried. 'I was like, the guy is a little bit suspicious so I got panicked. I ran to my entrance door,' Alinejad recalled. She scrambled to get the key and then saw him in her front garden. 'It was full of sunflowers,' Alinejad said. 'He was like, in the sunflowers staring into my eyes.' She told her friend that they should leave right away for their planned trip to Connecticut. She told her husband, maybe he was just taking photos. 'A lot of people [are] taking photos of my garden, my beautiful sunflowers.' Alinejad had used the garden as a salve for the frequent insults and threats received for opposition to Iran's treatment of women, planting a flower for 'every single curse' against her. 'That's why you see I have a beautiful, massive garden, because I face a lot of cursing and threats.' As it turned out, that man was a would-be assassin named Khalid Mehdiyev, and Alinejad was the target of an extraordinary plot to kill her and silence a powerful voice of opposition to the Tehran regime. Federal prosecutors showed how Mehdiyev was supposed to be the triggerman in an international murder plot involving the Iranian government and Russian mobsters named Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov. Iranian officials hired Amirov and Omarov to kill Alinejad in the US for $500,000 after previous plots failed, prosecutors said. The Iranian regime wanted to assassinate Alinejad due to her advocacy for women's rights and freedom. She had left Iran in 2009 following the country's disputed 2009 presidential election and moved to the US, where she launched online campaigns for women's rights and worked as a journalist, author and fierce critic of the Iranian government. Amirov and Omarov were found guilty on Thursday in Manhattan federal court of charges such as murder-for-hire, and attempted murder in aid of racketeering. Omarov's lawyer, reached for comment, said in an email: 'We respect the jury's verdict, but plan on filing an appeal on Mr Omarov's behalf.' Mehdiyev testified as a government witness at trial. Prosecutors said that Amirov and Omarov paid him $30,000 to kill Alinejad and detailed the alleged plot in court papers. In mid-July 2022, Amirov sent photos of Alinejad and her home, as well as her address, to Omirov. In turn, Omirov sent the information to Mehdiyev. Days later, Mehdiyev acquired an AK-47-type assault rifle and even boasted to his housemate: 'I bought this thing[,] you'd lose your mind if you saw it…war machine…f--k' in a text with several crying smiley-face emojis. Mehdiyev then repeatedly traveled between his Yonkers, New York, home and Brooklyn where he surveilled Alinejad and her family. He repeatedly sent updates to his gangster buddies who showered him with encouragement. In one missive, Mehidyev told Omarov he was at the 'crime scene'. 'Ok. You are a man!' Omarov responded in a 24 July 2022 exchange, according to court papers. The duo swapped messages several days later, brainstorming ways to lure Alinejad to the door. Maybe Mehidyev could ask for flowers from the garden? She did not, however. It seemed that Omarov and Amirov were growing concerned about Mehdiyev. 'This matter is going to be over today, brother. I told them to make a birthday present for me,' Omarov said in a 27 July 2022 text. Amirov responded with 'an image of two hands together in prayer' and links to Alinejad's social media accounts. The next day, Mehidyev drove back to Alinejad's home. En route, Mehidyev recorded a video that showed a suitcase in the backseat, and opened the front flap – revealing the assault rifle. He sent the video to Omarov with the caption 'we are ready.' Omarov sent Amirov the video. Amirov cautioned that Mehidyev should 'keep the car clean' – to shoot Alinejad away from the vehicle, lest there be forensic science evidence. Mehidyev did not know that he was being watched. Police had spotted him around Alinejad's neighborhood the day before and on the morning of 28 July 2022, thought he was acting 'suspiciously'. Mehidyev got into and out of his Subaru several times. He went to her house, tried looking inside the window, and also tried opening the front door. Mehidyev even ordered food delivery to his car. The plot was foiled after Alinejad left her home. Mehidyev drove away about 15 minutes later. He ran through a stop sign and police pulled him over. After checking his documents, police found that he was driving without a license – and that it had been suspended – resulting in his arrest. While Mehidyev was at the police precinct, officers searched his car. They found the gun – which had an 'obliterated' serial number – and ammo, as well as more than $1,000. Related: Iranian dissident put under 24-hour police protection in UK after threats to life Mehidyev told authorities that he was merely looking for an apartment in that neighborhood because 'the rent was too high and he needed to find a new place to live.' Yes, he tried to open the outer door of the house, so he could knock on the inside door and ask about renting a room. The cash was in case he needed to rent a hotel room, court papers said. Without being asked about a gun, Mehidyev 'volunteered' that he didn't know anything about the weapon. After agents left the interview room, Mehidyev asked to speak with them again. Mehidyev told them the AK-47 was his and that 'he had been in Brooklyn because he was looking for someone.' He then requested a lawyer and declined to speak any more. Mehidyev reportedly pleaded guilty to his involvement in the plot. He became the prosecution's key witness at trial. Alinejad has not lived at her home since late July 2022. She went back 'just for once to see my neighbors, to make sure that they're watering my garden and my tree'.
The Guardian
22-03-2025
- The Guardian
A garden of sunflowers … and an AK-47: Iranian murder plot comes to Brooklyn
Masih Alinejad had just finished gathering tomatoes and cucumbers from the backyard garden of her Brooklyn home when she spotted a 'gigantic' man mulling about. At first, he seemed 'like a normal guy', the Iranian-American dissident writer recalled in court this week of a fateful day in late July 2022. 'He was walking and then he had a phone in his hand.' Alinejad saw him talking and said 'what?', thinking he was trying to speak with her. When Alinejad realized that he was speaking on the phone, she said 'sorry' and grew worried. 'I was like, the guy is a little bit suspicious so I got panicked. I ran to my entrance door,' Alinejad recalled. She scrambled to get the key and then saw him in her front garden. 'It was full of sunflowers,' Alinejad said. 'He was like, in the sunflowers staring into my eyes.' She told her friend that they should leave right away for their planned trip to Connecticut. She told her husband, maybe he was just taking photos. 'A lot of people [are] taking photos of my garden, my beautiful sunflowers.' Alinejad had used the garden as a salve for the frequent insults and threats received for opposition to Iran's treatment of women, planting a flower for 'every single curse' against her. 'That's why you see I have a beautiful, massive garden, because I face a lot of cursing and threats.' As it turned out, that man was a would-be assassin named Khalid Mehdiyev, and Alinejad was the target of an extraordinary plot to kill her and silence a powerful voice of opposition to the Tehran regime. Federal prosecutors showed how Mehdiyev was supposed to be the triggerman in an international murder plot involving the Iranian government and Russian mobsters named Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov. Iranian officials hired Amirov and Omarov to kill Alinejad in the US for $500,000 after previous plots failed, prosecutors said. The Iranian regime wanted to assassinate Alinejad due to her advocacy for women's rights and freedom. She had left Iran in 2009 following the country's disputed 2009 presidential election and moved to the US, where she launched online campaigns for women's rights and worked as a journalist, author and fierce critic of the Iranian government. Amirov and Omarov were found guilty on Thursday in Manhattan federal court of charges such as murder-for-hire, and attempted murder in aid of racketeering. Omarov's lawyer, reached for comment, said in an email: 'We respect the jury's verdict, but plan on filing an appeal on Mr Omarov's behalf.' Mehdiyev testified as a government witness at trial. Prosecutors said that Amirov and Omarov paid him $30,000 to kill Alinejad and detailed the alleged plot in court papers. In mid-July 2022, Amirov sent photos of Alinejad and her home, as well as her address, to Omirov. In turn, Omirov sent the information to Mehdiyev. Days later, Mehdiyev acquired an AK-47-type assault rifle and even boasted to his housemate: 'I bought this thing[,] you'd lose your mind if you saw it…war machine…f--k' in a text with several crying smiley-face emojis. Mehdiyev then repeatedly traveled between his Yonkers, New York, home and Brooklyn where he surveilled Alinejad and her family. He repeatedly sent updates to his gangster buddies who showered him with encouragement. In one missive, Mehidyev told Omarov he was at the 'crime scene'. 'Ok. You are a man!' Omarov responded in a 24 July 2022 exchange, according to court papers. The duo swapped messages several days later, brainstorming ways to lure Alinejad to the door. Maybe Mehidyev could ask for flowers from the garden? She did not, however. It seemed that Omarov and Amirov were growing concerned about Mehdiyev. 'This matter is going to be over today, brother. I told them to make a birthday present for me,' Omarov said in a 27 July 2022 text. Amirov responded with 'an image of two hands together in prayer' and links to Alinejad's social media accounts. The next day, Mehidyev drove back to Alinejad's home. En route, Mehidyev recorded a video that showed a suitcase in the backseat, and opened the front flap – revealing the assault rifle. He sent the video to Omarov with the caption 'we are ready.' Omarov sent Amirov the video. Amirov cautioned that Mehidyev should 'keep the car clean' – to shoot Alinejad away from the vehicle, lest there be forensic science evidence. Mehidyev did not know that he was being watched. Police had spotted him around Alinejad's neighborhood the day before and on the morning of 28 July 2022, thought he was acting 'suspiciously'. Mehidyev got into and out of his Subaru several times. He went to her house, tried looking inside the window, and also tried opening the front door. Mehidyev even ordered food delivery to his car. The plot was foiled after Alinejad left her home. Mehidyev drove away about 15 minutes later. He ran through a stop sign and police pulled him over. After checking his documents, police found that he was driving without a license – and that it had been suspended – resulting in his arrest. While Mehidyev was at the police precinct, officers searched his car. They found the gun – which had an 'obliterated' serial number – and ammo, as well as more than $1,000. Mehidyev told authorities that he was merely looking for an apartment in that neighborhood because 'the rent was too high and he needed to find a new place to live.' Yes, he tried to open the outer door of the house, so he could knock on the inside door and ask about renting a room. The cash was in case he needed to rent a hotel room, court papers said. Without being asked about a gun, Mehidyev 'volunteered' that he didn't know anything about the weapon. After agents left the interview room, Mehidyev asked to speak with them again. Mehidyev told them the AK-47 was his and that 'he had been in Brooklyn because he was looking for someone.' He then requested a lawyer and declined to speak any more. Mehidyev reportedly pleaded guilty to his involvement in the plot. He became the prosecution's key witness at trial. Alinejad has not lived at her home since late July 2022. She went back 'just for once to see my neighbors, to make sure that they're watering my garden and my tree'.
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
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@ Follow her on X @KrystalRNurse, and on BlueSky @ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jury convicts 2 men in Iran-backed murder plot of U.S. journalist
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Two convicted in US of Iran-backed plot to kill journalist
By Luc Cohen NEW YORK - 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.
Reuters
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
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.
