The United States Justice Department has announced the conviction of two Eastern European organized crime figures for a murder-for-hire plot targeting a U.S.-based journalist, Masih Alinejad, at the behest of the Iranian Government. The verified details of this case, outlined in a press release from the Justice Department, lay bare a chilling operation that spanned continents and ensnared violent criminal elements in an assassination attempt on American soil.
Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky emphasized that the verdict serves as a strong warning globally: if they target U.S. citizens, authorities will track them down and ensure they face justice, regardless of where they are. He highlighted that the criminals involved went to extreme measures to silence criticism, using their networks and resources in a failed attempt to execute a deadly plot. The conspiracy to assassinate Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist and vocal critic of the Iranian regime, was hatched thousands of miles from its intended target, serving as a stark reminder of the lengths oppressive regimes will go to suppress opposition and maintain control, as detailed by the Justice Department.
The convicted, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, were high-ranking members of an Azeri faction of the Russian Mob with direct ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a prominent arm of the Iranian military with significant power within the country. Their planned execution was not the first affront on Ms. Alinejad; she had been the target of previous kidnapping plots all aiming to silence her vocal dissent and activism against the Iranian government's human rights abuses, according to the evidence presented at trial.
Amirov and Omarov swiftly coordinated the murderous intent into an actionable plan, facilitating surveillance operations on U.S. territory and financing the acquisition of military-grade weapons for the task. The pair communicated with Khalid Mehdiyev, another associate embedded in Yonkers, New York, who boasted in electronic communications about his "war machine" – an AK-47 style assault rifle and ammunition, acquired to murder Alinejad. In their pursuit to indeed sleep at the crime scene, the plot unraveled following a rather ordinary traffic violation that led to the discovery of the lethal arsenal by law enforcement.
Following the capture of Mehdiyev, Omarov ominously threatened Mehdiyev's mother, a testament to the organization's ruthless commitment to their cause and their willingness to extend threats to family members to maintain discipline within their ranks. Both Amirov and Omarov face severe sentences, including a maximum of life in prison for some of the charges, scheduled for sentencing on September 17, according to the same press release.
The dogged work of multiple law enforcement agencies including the FBI's New York Field Office Counterintelligence-Cyber Division, the New York FBI Iran Threat Task Force, the New York City Police Department, and international authorities culminated in these convictions. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Lockard, Jacob H. Gutwillig, and Matthew J.C. Hellman headed the prosecution, buttressed by the support of national security and international legal divisions.
.jpg){kind=link}