A high-profile federal trial showcasing Iran’s brutal tactics against dissidents kicked off on Tuesday in New York City.
Rafat Amirov, 45, and Polad Omarov, 40, both from Azerbaijan, face charges of murder-for-hire, conspiracy, and weapons offenses for allegedly accepting $500,000 from Tehran to orchestrate the killing of Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad. Since fleeing in 2009, Alinejad has been an outspoken advocate against Iranian oppression, particularly her campaign encouraging women to share videos of themselves removing their mandatory hijabs.
“The defendants were hired guns for the government of Iran,” federal prosecutor Jacob Gutwillig told the jury in his opening statement. “Masih Alinejad was almost gunned down on the streets of New York City by a hitman sent by the defendants. She shined a light on the government’s oppression of women, (and) that enraged the regime.”
A packed courtroom watched as the prosecution’s key witness, Khalid Mehdiyev, 27, testified how he was recruited by the defendants to carry out the killing after a seven-day surveillance operation of Alinejad’s Brooklyn home in July 2022.
“I was there to try to kill the journalist. I know her as Masih,” he said.
Mehdiyev, who described himself as a member of a Russian organized crime group, was arrested after running a stop sign near Alinejad’s home. Police found him in possession of an AK-47 assault rifle, 66 rounds of ammunition, $1,100 in cash, and a ski mask. He has pleaded guilty to attempted murder and firearms charges and faces at least 15 years in prison.
Prosecutors allege the plot was orchestrated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after previous attempts to silence Alinejad had failed.
“They smeared her in state-run news media. They imprisoned her brother. They even attempted to kidnap her and bring her back to Iran. And when they failed, when they couldn’t silence her or intimidate her or kidnap her, they hired these men,” Gutwillig said.
Defense attorney Michael Martin claimed the evidence was circumstantial and attacked Mehdiyev’s credibility, calling him a “murderer, a kidnapper, an arsonist, a robber, an extortionist, a scammer, a fraudster and a liar.” Omarov’s attorney portrayed his client as a “scam artist” who intended to defraud the Iranian regime rather than commit murder.
Alinejad later wrote on social media that she was “overwhelmed with mixed emotions” as Mehdiyev testified.
“As a witness, I’m not allowed in the courtroom, so I’m sitting outside, reliving the moment when that man stood with a loaded gun in front of my home,” she shared on X.
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