A top-ranking official in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and three others were charged by the Department of Justice in an alleged plot to kill a New York journalist and human rights activist who has been critical of the Islamic regime.
Ruhollah Bazghandi, identified as a brigadier general in the IRGC, was named with three Iranian citizens in a superseding indictment unsealed this week by the Department of Justice and accused of the murder-for-hire scheme and money laundering.
Three additional men with ties to Iran were arrested last year in the plot to kill and remain in custody.
"We will not tolerate efforts by an authoritarian regime like Iran to undermine the fundamental rights guaranteed to every American," Attorney General Merrick Garland said.
"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," he said.
Alinejad reacted to the Department of Justice's announcement on X.
"The revelation that the assassination plot against me in July 2022 was orchestrated by Ali Khamenei's IRGC is a stark reminder of the brutal lengths to which the Islamic regime will go to silence dissidents, even those far beyond Iran's borders," she said.
I am the only woman in America right now with eight people, including senior members of a foreign government’s military from Iran, charged with plotting to kill me for fighting for freedom. Yet, not a single female politician from my adopted country, the U.S., has condemned this… pic.twitter.com/SkY0UGMaRC
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) October 23, 2024
"But this new charge exposes not only the Islamic Republic, but also its lobbyists and even some who call themselves the opposition yet denied this assassination plot. They too stand exposed for shielding the regime's crimes," Alinejad continued.
She also posted a direct message to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"Know this – the day of reckoning is coming, and no matter how far you run, justice will find you. Your regime will face accountability for the suffering it has inflicted," she said, adding: "Go to hell."
Bazghandi and his three cohorts allegedly contacted an Eastern European criminal network about assassinating Alinejad in New York, a scheme directed by Rafat Amirov, who was living in Iran.
In July 2022, Amirov forwarded information about Alinejad's residence that he had received from others in Iran to Polad Omarov, Zialat Mamedov and Khalid Mehdiyev.
Mehdiyev, who was living in Yonkers, N.Y., was arrested wearing a black ski mask near Alinead's home with an assault rifle, 66 rounds of ammunition, and about $1,100 in cash.
Amirov, Omarov and Mamedov are in custody.
Bazghandi and the other three are believed to be in Iran.
