By james art The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday announced murder-for-hire charges against an officer in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Ruhollah Bazgandi – 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 attempting to kill Iranian-American writer and human rights activist Masih Alinejad. Bazgandi is not in custody.
Alinejad, who lives in exile in New York, was not identified in court documents, but she confirmed to The Associated Press that she was the intended target of the assassination plot.
“The Department of Justice has indicted eight individuals, including an Iranian military official, for their efforts to silence and kill a US citizen for her criticism of the Iranian regime,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement.
Photo by BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP via Getty Images
Garland continued, “We will not tolerate efforts by an authoritarian regime like Iran to undermine the basic rights guaranteed to every American. Three of the defendants charged in this horrific conspiracy are now in U.S. custody, and we will never stop working to identify, find, and bring to justice all those who threaten the safety of the American people.”
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group in 2017. Last year, the agency accused Bazgandi of involvement in multiple assassination plots as well as involvement in holding foreign prisoners in Iran.
According to the indictment, Bazgandi, Fnu Lnu (also known as Haj Taher), Hossein Sedighi and Mohammad Foruzan hired members of an Eastern European criminal organization – Rafat Amirov, Polad Omarov, Zilat Mammadov and Khalid Mehdiyev – to kill an American citizen of Iranian origin (Masih Alinejad ) in New York for her public opposition to the Iranian government.
The Justice Department said the FBI had foiled a past attempt to kidnap Alinejad, and Bazgandi’s team allegedly planned to kill 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 abroad in January 2023 and charged with their involvement in the attempted assassination of Alinejad. However, Bazgandi and his team allegedly continued to plot to kill the author.
Bazgandi, Haj Taher, Sedighi and Foruzan are charged with murder; conspiracy to commit murder; conspiracy to commit money laundering; and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers and Sanctions Act against the Government of Iran.
“Today’s indictment reveals the full extent of Iran’s conspiracy to silence an American journalist for criticizing the Iranian regime,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
“A brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a former Iranian intelligence officer working with a network of conspirators allegedly planned to kill a dissident living in New York,” Ray added. “The FBI’s investigation led to the disruption of this plot, as one of the conspirators was allegedly about to kill the victim in New York.” As these charges indicate, 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.