A federal judge in Manhattan on Wednesday sentenced two mobsters convicted of plotting to assassinate Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad at her New York home to 25 years in prison.
The case is one of the most high-profile yet dealing with Iran's so-called transnational repression, or bid to deploy violence to silence its critics abroad.
Prosecutors had argued that Rafat Amirov, 46, of Iran and Polad Omarov, 41, of Georgia were senior figures in a Russian crime group enlisted by members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards to kill Alinejad.
The men were convicted in March after a two-week trial that included testimony from Alinejad and a hired gunman turned witness for the prosecution.
Alinejad, an author and Voice of America contributor, said she would attend the sentencing to deliver an impact statement.
Pleading guilty
The FBI disrupted the assassination attempt after surveillance footage revealed suspicious activity near Alinejad’s residence. She was away at the time, a factor that may have saved her life.
Khalid Mehdiyev, a member of the Thieves in Law gang who was allegedly due to carry out the killing, said he received orders from the two to kill the journalist who uses her platform to expose the Islamic Republic’s repression.
He pleaded guilty to attempted murder and gun charges.
Alinejad, who has long criticized Iran’s compulsory hijab laws and its treatment of women, said she will speak at the sentencing not just for herself, but "for every woman who refuses to be afraid.”
The FBI’s Counterintelligence Division and its Iran Threat Task Force led the investigation with support from the NYPD and Czech authorities.
The Justice Department said Alinejad has previously been the target of IRGC-backed plots to kidnap or kill her for her activism, which includes highlighting Iran’s human rights record and advocating against compulsory hijab laws.
