The U.S. Department of Justice has announced the charging of eight individuals, including a general from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, in connection with an alleged assassination plot targeting an Iranian American journalist known for her criticisms of the Iranian regime. The journalist, widely identified as Masih Alinejad, is currently residing in New York.
Attorney General Merrick Garland stated, “The Justice Department has charged eight individuals for their efforts to silence and kill a U.S. citizen due to her opposition to the Iranian regime.” He emphasized that the U.S. will not stand for actions that undermine the fundamental rights of its citizens by authoritarian regimes like Iran.
While the Iranian government has yet to respond to this latest development in the Alinejad case, they have consistently denied previous U.S. accusations regarding plots against its officials and citizens.
In a post on her X account, Alinejad remarked that the alleged assassination plot serves as a “stark reminder of the brutal lengths to which the Islamic regime will go to silence dissidents, even those far beyond Iran’s borders.”
The court documents reveal that Ruhollah Bazghandi, a brigadier general in the Revolutionary Guards and a former intelligence officer, is one of those charged. Three other Iranians with alleged ties to the Iranian government—Haj Taher, Hossein Sedighi, and Seyed Mohammad Forouzan—are also facing charges. None of these individuals are in U.S. custody and are believed to be in Iran, where they face charges relating to conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and money laundering.
Four members of an Eastern European criminal gang, who had reportedly played a role in the plot against Alinejad, have already been arrested. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams commented, “That group was not acting alone. Today, we hold their Iranian masters accountable and allege that these Iran-based co-conspirators, including a brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, orchestrated the murder plot.”
According to the Justice Department, members of the Eastern European crime network were allegedly hired by Bazghandi and his associates to carry out the assassination. In July 2022, a man was arrested near Alinejad’s New York home while carrying a loaded AK-47, confirming the seriousness of the threat against her.
The United States has also accused Iran of plotting to assassinate U.S. officials as retaliation for the 2020 killing of Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Soleimani. Additionally, a Pakistani man with alleged connections to Iran recently pleaded not guilty in New York to charges of attempting to hire a hitman to kill a U.S. politician or official. Last month, the State Department even offered a $20 million reward for information leading to the arrest of the alleged Iranian mastermind behind a plot against former White House official John Bolton.
