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2mo ago

Iranian Government Accused of Hiring Hitmen to Kill U.S.-Based Journalist

Federal trial reveals alleged $500,000 assassination plot targeting dissident Masih Alinejad, orchestrated by Iranian agents and Eastern European criminals.

American-Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad poses for a portrait in New York City, U.S., September 14, 2024. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs/File Photo
Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarev sit during their trial's jury selection, in which the two are charged with murder-for-hire and money laundering in a thwarted Tehran-backed assassination attempt of an Iranian American journalist and activist at a courtroom in New York, U.S., March 10, 2025 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg/File Photo
FILE - Masih Alinejad, 48, a prominent Iranian American human rights activist attends an interview with the Associated Press in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)

Overview

  • Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American journalist and activist, was allegedly targeted for assassination by operatives hired by the Iranian government.
  • Federal prosecutors claim Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps worked with Eastern European organized crime figures to carry out the $500,000 plot.
  • The scheme involved a seven-day surveillance operation near Alinejad's Brooklyn home in 2022, with the hitman arrested carrying an AK-47 and ammunition.
  • The trial marks the first time Iranian agents are being prosecuted in the U.S. for such an alleged plot, with two defendants pleading not guilty to charges of murder-for-hire and racketeering.
  • Prosecutors argue the plot reflects a broader pattern of Iran's efforts to silence dissidents abroad, citing at least 33 similar cases in Western countries since 2020.