A jury in New York convicted two foreign nationals on Thursday for the attempted assassination of journalist Masih Alinejad, an American-Iranian, in a murder-for-hire scheme in 2022, according to court documents.
Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, said to be members of the Russian mafia, were found guilty, after three hours of deliberation, on charges of murder for hire, firearms possession, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Prosecutors believed the pair were "hired guns for the government of Iran" and claimed that the attempted assassination was funded to the amount of $500,000.
Alinejad fled Iran to the United States in 2009 and has since used her large platform to spread awareness of Tehran's abuse of women. Federal prosecutors believed that her efforts made the Islamic Republic label her as an "enemy of the Iranian state," - which may have been a motive for Tehran to want her killed.
Alinejad told Reuters she was the target of a previous alleged attempt by Iranian intelligence officers to kidnap her and take her to Iran.
Amirov and Omarov also allegedly tapped Azerbaijani mobster Khalid Mehdiyev to carry out the attack. Mehdiyev testified that the pair tasked him with the assassination and that he understood the funds had come from Iran.
Mehdiyev reportedly failed to carry out the assassination when NYPD officers discovered an AK-47 and 66 rounds of ammunition in his car.
Amirov and Omarov's defense claimed the evidence was flawed and their clients were innocent.
FBI Assistant Director in Charge Leslie R. Backschies said: “The convictions of Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov send a clear message to all foreign governments who violate our laws and attempt to commit violence against Americans — they and their proxies will face justice for any attempt to silence Americans on U.S. soil. The Iranian government’s shameless conduct and attempt to violate our laws and assassinate a critic of their human rights atrocities will not be tolerated. The FBI is determined to disrupt any effort by foreign governments to use violence to repress our citizens’ freedoms, here or abroad.”
Khamenei's loss
Tagging the X account of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Alinejad wrote following the conviction "I and the women of Iran have today won and you @khamenei_ir and your hated regime have lost!
"I am relieved that after nearly three years, moving more than 20 times between safe houses, the men hired by the Islamic Republic to kill me on US soil have been found guilty."
Despite her celebrations, she warned that " the real masterminds of this crime are still in power in Iran" and that she was waiting for the day they would be brought to justice.
I and the women of Iran have today won and you @khamenei_ir and your hated regime have lost!I am relieved that after nearly three years, moving more than 20 times between safe houses, the men hired by the Islamic Republic to kill me on US soil have been found guilty. But make… pic.twitter.com/zmW2lP5iQt
— Masih Alinejad ️ (@AlinejadMasih) March 20, 2025
"For the first time, the regime of the Islamic Republic is being held accountable for bringing its campaign of terror to US soil. This is just the beginning of exposing and dismantling its network of violence," she shared, before asking US President Donald Trump to take action "before it's too late."