Two men convicted in Iranian plot to kill American dissident

A federal jury convicted two men, who plotted to kill a prominent Iranian-American dissident on behalf of Iran, on Thursday.

Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, both high-ranking members of an Eastern European crime group called “The Organization,” conspired to kill the women’s rights activist and journalist Masih Alinejad at her home in Brooklyn.

“For years, the government of Iran has attempted to silence an outspoken Iranian journalist, author, activist and critic of their regime through any means necessary, including harassment, violence, intimidation and even attempted murder,” stated Matthew Podolsky, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

“Chillingly, the plot to murder this Iranian dissident culminated over 6,000 miles from Iran, on U.S. soil, right here in New York, when a hitman with an AK-47 camped outside her home to kill her,” Podolsky said.

In 2022, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sent instructions to Amirov to kill Alinejad after Iranian plans to kidnap her in the previous two years had failed. Amirov, in turn, sent targeting information to Omarov, who asked a third member of the Organization, Khalid Mehdiyev, to be the hitman.

Police arrested Mehdiyev after a traffic stop near Alinejad’s home and found an AK-47, 66 rounds of ammunition, $1,100 in cash and a black ski mask.

Mehdiyev had stalked Alinejad at her home for days before Omarov told Amirov that they were ready to kill her.

“This matter will be over today,” Omarov wrote. “I told them to make a birthday present for me. I pressured them. They will sleep there this night.”

Mehdiyev testified at Amirov and Omarov’s trial as a government witness and had previously pleaded guilty to attempted murder and other offenses.

Alinejad celebrated the conviction of her would-be hitmen on Friday, holding up a copy of the New York Post with the frontpage reading “Mullah moolah for murder” and a photo of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“I love America,” she said. “The government from my own birth country is trying to kill me, but the government of my adopted country is trying to protect me” from this “ugly man.”

Amirov and Omarov were convicted on five counts: murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit money laundering, attempted murder in aid of racketeering and possession and use of a firearm in connection with the attempted murder.

The convictions include a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and the two face up to life in prison. The pair is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 17.