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Three Arrested In Iranian Plot To Kill Journalist And Women’s Rights Activist

AG Merrick Garland announced the arrest of an Iranian murder-for-hire plot to be carried out on American soil.

The thwarted conspiracy targeted a prominent U.S. journalist and critic of the Iranian Regime.

On Friday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the unsealing of an indictment against three individuals, 43-year-old “Rafat Amirov, aka Farkhaddin Mirzoev,” 38-year-old “Polad Omarov, aka Araz Aliyev, aka Polad Qaqa, aka Haci Qaqa,” and 24-year-old Khalid Mehdiyev. The trio had been arrested and charged in a plot to kill an American journalist and activist.

“A federal court in New York today unsealed murder-for-hire and money laundering charges against three members of an Eastern European criminal organization for plotting the murder of a U.S. citizen who has been targeted by the Government of Iran for speaking out against the regime’s human rights abuses,” states the Justice Department press release.

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According to the Justice Department, in July 2022, the three individuals were tasked with murdering a “U.S. citizen of Iranian origin.” The Justice Department did not name Alinejad in the press release, but she confirmed that she was the victim on Twitter, as well as to the Associated Press.
Source: Newsweek

The press release lays out the plot in a few brief points.

In July of last year, one of the defendants, Khalid Mehdiyev, was found with an assault rifle, two ammunition magazines, and approximately 66 rounds of ammunition not far from the victim’s home in Brooklyn, New York. He was arrested by NYPD officers and charged with a federal firearms offense.

As detailed in the superseding indictment unsealed today, Mehdiyev was not acting alone.

We allege that Mehdiyev and his co-conspirators, Polad Omarov and Rafat Amirov, are members of an Eastern European criminal organization with ties to Iran.

As alleged in the indictment, the Government of Iran has previously targeted dissidents around the world, including the Victim, who oppose the regime’s violations of human rights.
Source: DOJ

Here is AG Garland making the announcement on Friday:

All three defendants are currently in custody.

Although the target of the plot wasn’t named in the presser, Iranian activist Masih Alinejad posted a video on Twitter revealing that she had spoken to the FBI headquarters in New York and was told that she was the target of an assassination plot.

In 2020 and 2021, the FBI thwarted a kidnapping plot by Iran targeting Alinejad, a U.S. citizen.

This is nothing new for the Iranian regime. They have been plotting to kill opponents in America for years.

Iran has long orchestrated murder-for-hire attempts against American adversaries, including an effort against from National Security Advisor John Bolton, one of Tehran’s most vocal critics. News broke last year that the DOJ was pursuing charges against a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for allegedly paying an assassin $300,000 to take Bolton out.

The former U.S. official later joked that he was “embarrassed at the low price,” the assassin ostensibly charged for his death.
Source: Just The News

Sources:

1. Impelli, Matthew. “Masih Alinejad Issues Dire Warning After Alleged Assassination Plot.” Newsweek. January 27, 2023. https://www.newsweek.com/masih-alinejad-dire-warning-alleged-assassination-plot-1777208

2. “Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Delivers Remarks on Charges and New Arrest in Connection with Assassination Plot Directed from Iran” Department of Justice. January 27, 2023. https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-merrick-b-garland-delivers-remarks-charges-and-new-arrest-connection

3. Whedon, Ben. “Three arrested in Iranian plot to kill U.S. journalist.” Just The News. January 27, 2023. https://justthenews.com/world/middle-east/three-arrested-iranian-plot-kill-us-journalist

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2 Comments

  1. But, in spite of Iran being a rogue state, the Biden regime continues to negotiate new ways to enable them in their quest to acquire nuclear weapons. In exchange for worthless assurances that are made in bad faith Washington releases billions in frozen assets to Tehran without any way of verifying compliance. One mus wonder if “the Big Guy” is getting 10% of this sellout of Americans and their allies too?

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