US Convicts Iran Hitmen Who Nearly Killed American Journalist

A jury has found two Eastern European individuals guilty of conspiring to kill US-based journalist Masih Alinejad after being hired to do so by Iran.

Polad Omarov and Rafat Amirov were hired by Iran to murder Alinejad due to her fierce criticism of Iran’s theocratic authoritarian government. 

Omarov and Amirov were high-ranking members of an Eastern European crime group. They had ordered subordinates to surveil Alinejad and camp outside her home waiting for the opportune moment to execute her. 

Providentially, the plot was uncovered when an individual involved was arrested for a traffic violation and police found him in possession of weapons indicating he was preparing to commit murder. 

Subsequently, the Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecuted Omarov and Amirov for orchestrating the murder, ultimately resulting in their recent guilty verdict. 

DOJ officials celebrated the conviction, emphasizing that threats against American citizens “will not be tolerated.”

“The Iranian regime’s brazen plot to silence and murder Americans will not be tolerated,” said Sue J. Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “This verdict underscores the Department’s commitment to finding and holding accountable those who threaten our citizens and our freedoms.”

Iran’s harnessing of violence to silence and intimidate its critics has fanned the flames of the increasingly hostile US-Iran relationship. 

Last year, an Iranian plot to murder President Donald Trump was uncovered by the intelligence community.

Besides the assassination plot, Iran had also been actively interfering in the lead-up to the US November presidential elections, primarily to subvert President Trump’s campaign. 

Trump had promised to apply a ‘maximum-pressure’ campaign on Iran if elected President, and he has delivered on such a promise by applying a barrage of sanctions on Iran and targeting its terrorist proxies through military strikes. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio reminded Iran that under Trump’s leadership, “Iran's front groups and proxies trying to operate in the U.S. will be investigated, disrupted, and prosecuted.”