Two men accused of being members of the Russian mob are standing trial in a US federal court over an alleged Iran-backed plot to kill Iranian-American feminist activist Masih Alinejad on US soil.
The trial in Manhattan federal court kicked off Monday with jury selection.
Federal prosecutors say Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps hired accused members of a Russian crime group Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov to kill the US-based journalist and activist, who is a vocal critic of the Islamic Republic.
Both Amirov and Omarov have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder for hire and attempted murder in aid of racketeering. Lawyers for both men have said it was "inaccurate" to refer to them as members of the Russian mob, according to Reuters.
Court documents do not name Alinejad, but she has identified herself as the victim on social media.
As a witness due to take the stand, Alinejad said she has been barred from speaking about the trial. Alinejad who has been the voice for many victims of the Islamic Republic and their families is asking for the public to now be her voice.
"I am very nervous to see the potential killers who tried to kill me, to look them in their eyes," Alinejad posted to X on the eve of the trial, "I want you to be my voice."
The alleged plot became known in 2022 after Khalid Mehdiyev - an alleged co-conspirator of Amirov and Omarov - was arrested outside Alinejad's Brooklyn home with a loaded AK-47 rifle.
Home surveillance footage, which Alinejad posted to X, shows Mehdiyev lurking outside her home. Investigators found ammunition and an assault rifle in his vehicle.
Exposing Transnational Repression
The trial could reveal new details on how Washington's Mideast adversary tries to quash dissent abroad.
The two-week trial could reveal important details about alleged ties between Iran's government and criminal organizations. Iranian-American activists, including Alinejad, have been pushing Western authorities to identify and prioritize tackling what they describe as Tehran's transnational repression.
High-ranking IRGC brigadier general Ruhollah Bazghandi, who is a senior counterintelligence officer, is accused of being a key organizers of the assassination attempt according to an unsealed FBI incitement. It alleges Bazghandi hired Amirov, a citizen of Azerbaijan and Russia, who was living in Iran at the time to kill Alinejad.
Bazghandi was also charged but is not in US custody.
Alinejad is no stranger to threats. In 2021, the FBI thwarted an alleged kidnapping plot against Alinejad.
Since the alleged assassination plot was thwarted, Alinejad been under police protection, moving from safe house to safe house in New York City.
"I could have been dead. I could have been killed," Alinejad said in a video post on X just hours before the trial got underway.
"Finally, I will face the men hired by the Islamic Republic to kill me, right here in New York. Of course, it’s not easy. But it’s a big day. I’m deeply grateful to my new country, the United States of America, for trying to keep me safe from the government of my birth country, Iran," proclaimed Alinejad on social media.
