U.S. authorities bring charges against an Iranian Revolutionary Guards representative for plotting an assassination on American soil.
Published on Tuesday, accusations against government official Ruhollah Bazghandi become the first to explicitly implicate an Iranian official by name in the suspected plan to eliminate journalist Masih Alinejad.
Besides the accusations against Bazghandi and three others, three more individuals, believed to be part of an Eastern European criminal organization with Iranian connections, were indicted in the same murder-for-hire plot the previous year and remain in custody. Authorities claim they were hired to execute Alinejad's assassination in the United States.
Attorney General Merrick Garland asserted on Tuesday, "We will not tolerate attempts by totalitarian regimes like Iran to undermine the essential rights of every American." He continued, "Three of the defendants implicated in this abhorrent scheme are now in US custody, and we will continually strive to find, apprehend, and prosecute those who compromise the safety of American citizens."
Alinejad shared on X on Tuesday that the revelation that the assassination plot against her in July 2022 was orchestrated by Ali Khamenei's IRGC was a grim reminder of the extreme lengths that the Islamic regime will go to suppress dissidents, regardless of borders. She vowed to persist in advocating for the rights of the Iranian people to secure democracy and escape dictatorship, no matter the risks.
Alinejad addressed @khamenei_ir in her post, tagging Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and wrote, "Be aware that the day of reckoning is fast approaching. No matter how far you flee, justice will eventually catch up to you. Your regime will be held accountable for the distress it has inflicted. Although you forced me to abandon my home, now it's your turn to face the consequences of your transgressions. Farewell, and journey to eternal damnation."
FBI Director Christopher Wray declared on Tuesday that the public release of the unsealed charges reveals "the entirety of Iran's plan to silence an American journalist for protesting the Iranian regime."
"According to the charges, a Brigadier General in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a former Iranian intelligence officer, in collaboration with a network of conspirators, intended to eliminate a dissident living in New York City," Wray stated. "The FBI's investigation led to the disruption of this plot as one of the conspirators was allegedly on their way to execute the victim in New York."
Court documents describe Bazghandi as "an IRGC Brigadier General" having previously served as the chief of an IRGC counterintelligence department. Bazghandi was sanctioned by the Treasury Department in 2023 due to his involvement in assassination plots against journalists, Israeli citizens, and others, as well as his involvement in the detention of foreign prisoners held in Iran and operations in Syria.
Bazghandi reportedly monitored other assassination plots towards perceived enemies of Iran, including a 2019 incident involving an individual residing in France being lured back to Iran, imprisoned, and executed. Bazghandi has also been photographed with Qasem Soleimani, a top general of the IRGC who was killed by a US drone strike in 2020, and Javad Ghaffari, a commander of the IRGC-Qods Force who led forces in Syria, according to court documents.
Bazghandi allegedly discussed the plot to eliminate Alinejad with a second defendant, Haj Taher. Taher, in turn, correspond with defendants Hossein Sedighi and Mohammad Forouzan regarding the plot, including payment for the assassination, prosecutors claim. Taher, Sedighi, and Forouzan additionally have ties to the Iranian government, according to prosecutors.
The plot was subsequently handed over to defendant Rafat Amirov, the head of an Eastern European criminal organization who was previously indicted, court documents state. Amirov instructed at least two other members of his organization, Polad Omarov and Zailat Mamedov, to assist in coordinating and executing the plot.
The seven men are charged with several offenses, including murder for hire and racketeering. CNN reached out to attorneys for Amirov and Omarov for comment, while the other defendants do not yet have legal representation listed on the court docket.
CNN's Kara Scannell contributed to this report.
In light of these developments, international politics surrounding Iran's human rights record and its treatment of dissidents have once again come under scrutiny. The alleged involvement of high-ranking Iranian officials in such heinous acts further fuels concerns about the regime's intent to suppress freedom of speech and journalist safety.
