The U.S. Accuses a Senior IRGC Official of Involvement in the Assassination Plot Against Masih Alinejad

A new indictment released on Tuesday, October 24, reveals that federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged a senior official of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran and three other men connected to the Iranian government with participating in the failed assassination plot against Masih Alinejad, a journalist and host of the Tablet program on Voice of America, in 2022. The new charges represent the first set of accusations directly linking a high-ranking IRGC official to the assassination conspiracy against Ms. Alinejad. The indictment names this official as Rouhollah Bazghandi, a brigadier general in the IRGC, who has also been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury as an anti-espionage official. Rouhollah Bazghandi, a former head of the IRGC's counter-intelligence division, has been involved in planning and overseeing operations of this organization in Iraq and Turkey, as well as deadly operations against Israeli citizens. The Treasury Department stated that Bazghandi has been involved in the detention of foreign prisoners in Iran and in assassination plots against journalists and Israeli citizens. Christopher Wray, the head of the FBI, described the New York prosecutor's indictment against Rouhollah Bazghandi and several former intelligence officials of the Islamic Republic as a sign of the "depth of the Iranian government's scheming against its critics." Wray noted that the FBI investigation thwarted the plot while one of the conspirators was on his way to New York to kill the victim. Following the news, Masih Alinejad wrote on her account on the platform "X" that the revelation serves as a reminder of how far the Islamic Republic is willing to go to silence its opponents, even those beyond Iran's borders. She stated that the new charges expose not only the Islamic Republic but also its lobbies and even some who call themselves opposition figures but denied the assassination plot, putting them at risk of exposure for protecting the regime's crimes. U.S. officials had previously issued an indictment in a federal court against a citizen of Azerbaijan and two citizens of Georgia for their involvement in a conspiracy to hire a hitman to kill Masih Alinejad. The identities of these three individuals have been revealed as Rafat Amirov or Fakhraddin Mirzaev, a citizen of Azerbaijan and Russia; Polad Amirov or Nowruz Nowruzadeh, a citizen of Georgia; and Ruslan Nowruzadeh or Mamedov, also a citizen of Georgia. According to the indictment, which a copy was obtained by Voice of America, these three are part of a conspiracy designed by the Iranian government to silence Masih Alinejad. The indictment, which was issued after the grand jury confirmed the charges, states that these three are part of a criminal group operating in Eastern Europe. Members of this group refer to themselves as "thieves" in Azerbaijani and have tattooed a star symbol as their group's mark on their bodies. The indictment states that Rafat Amirov, a leader of the Eastern European criminal gang, was residing in Iran throughout the crime and was tasked with targeting Masih Alinejad. Amirov received information about the target from others in Iran and then passed this mission to Polad Amirov, who was residing in Eastern Europe. Polad Amirov, who holds a leadership position in the criminal gang, along with Ruslan Nowruzadeh, another member of the group and a close aide to Polad Amirov, contacted Khalid Mahdiyev, another citizen of Azerbaijan, and provided him with $30,000. Subsequently, Khalid Mahdiyev purchased a Kalashnikov rifle and was arrested shortly thereafter near Masih Alinejad's home in New York. Khalid Mahdiyev's name is not among those charged in the indictment. At the time he was assigned the mission, he was in Yonkers, New York. After receiving the money, Mahdiyev took photos of Masih Alinejad and her family and monitored her home, promptly relaying information to his associates in the criminal gang. Mahdiyev was arrested just as he was about to kill Masih Alinejad. He was apprehended on July 28, 2022, after Masih Alinejad noticed suspicious behavior near her home and left the area. He was stopped and subsequently arrested following a traffic violation. New York police found an assault weapon and 66 rounds of ammunition inside his vehicle. The indictment states that after Mahdiyev's arrest, communications between Amirov and Mamedov continued, and they updated each other and Amir-ov about the status of the assassination plot against the victim while Mahdiyev was incarcerated. Ruslan Nowruzadeh was also residing in Eastern Europe, including Slovenia and the Czech Republic, at the time of the crimes mentioned in the indictment. The indictment includes their images and exchanged messages, including one from Khalid Mahdiyev after acquiring the weapon, stating that at least in July 2022, Rafat Amirov, Polad Amirov, and Ruslan Nowruzadeh conspired to kill Masih Alinejad. After his arrest, Mahdiyev obtained a controlled phone and used it to contact Amirov, Mamedov, and others. He even sent a picture of his arrest and one from his prison cell as proof of his detention and requested money for food and cigarettes. The arrest of a Pakistani citizen for attempting to hire a "hitman" on behalf of the Islamic Republic. Masih Alinejad told Voice of America: the Islamic Republic's supportive arms in the West will be exposed. The handover of the individual accused of planning the murder of Masih Alinejad to the U.S. A 23-year-old armed with a Kalashnikov was arrested near Masih Alinejad's home.