The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday announced murder-for-hire charges against an official from Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
Ruhollah Bazghandi—a brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a former Iranian intelligence officer—and three other men were charged in an updated indictment against those accused of trying to kill Iranian American author and human rights activist Masih Alinejad. Bazghandi is not in custody.
Alinejad, who has been living in exile in New York City, was not identified in court papers, but she confirmed to The Associated Press that she was the intended target of the assassination plot.
"The Justice Department has now charged eight individuals, including an Iranian military official, for their efforts to silence and kill a U.S. citizen because of her criticism of the Iranian regime," Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement.
Garland continued, "We will not tolerate efforts by an authoritarian regime like Iran to undermine the fundamental rights guaranteed to every American. Three of the defendants charged in this horrific plot are now in U.S. custody, and we will never stop working to identify, find and bring to justice all those who endanger the safety of the American people."
The U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group in 2017. Last year, the office accused Bazghandi of being involved in multiple assassination plots, as well as participating in the detention of foreign prisoners in Iran.
According to the indictment, Bazghandi, Fnu Lnu (also known as Haj Taher), Hossein Sedighi and Mohammad Forouzan contracted members of an Eastern European criminal organization—Rafat Amirov, Polad Omarov, Zialat Mamedov and Khalid Mehdiyev—to murder a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin (Masih Alinejad) in New York City for her public opposition to the Iranian government.
The DOJ said the FBI disrupted a past attempt to kidnap Alinejad, and Bazghandi's team has allegedly been plotting to assassinate her since at least 2022. Mehdiyev was arrested in July 2022 near her home while in possession of an assault rifle, approximately $1,100 in cash and a black ski mask.
Amirov, Omarov and Mamedov were arrested overseas in January 2023 and charged for their roles in attempting to assassinate Alinejad. However, Bazghandi and his crew allegedly continued plotting to kill the author.
Bazghandi, Haj Taher, Sedighi and Forouzan have been charged with murder-for-hire; conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire; conspiracy to commit money laundering; and conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sanctions against the Government of Iran.
"Today's indictment exposes the full extent of Iran's plot to silence an American journalist for criticizing the Iranian regime," FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
"According to the charges, a brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a former Iranian intelligence officer, working with a network of conspirators, planned to kill a dissident living in New York City," Wray added. "The FBI's investigation led to the disruption of this plot as one of the conspirators was allegedly on their way to murder the victim in New York. As these charges show, the FBI will work with our partners here and abroad to hold accountable those who target Americans."
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
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