Men charged in plot to kill Iranian activist living in U.S.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has charged three men in an alleged plot that originated in Iran to kill an Iranian American author and activist who has spoken out against human rights abuses there.

The men, Rafat Amirov, 43, of Iran, Polad Omarov, 38, of the Czech Republic and Slovenia and Khalid Mehdiyev, 24, of Yonkers, N.Y., were charged with money laundering and murder-for-hire in an indictment unsealed in federal court in New York. The three were in custody and one was awaiting extradition to the U.S.

Masih Alinejad, an Iranian opposition activist, journalist and writer in exile in New York City, confirmed to the Associated Press that she was the intended target.

“I’m not scared,” Alinejad said after U.S. authorities announced the charges Friday. “I want to tell you that the Iranian regime thinks by trying to kill me, they will silence me, or silence other women. But they only strengthen me, make me more powerful to fight for democracy.”

She said FBI officials had read her the messages that the plotters exchanged between themselves, including a final one: “It’s going to be done today.”

Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment on the charges.

While the man who allegedly orchestrated the plot lives in Iran, the indictment does not directly accuse the country’s theocracy of being behind the alleged murder-for-hire.

Still, the case “follows a disturbing pattern of Iranian government-sponsored efforts to kill, torture, and intimidate into silence activists for speaking out for the fundamental rights and freedoms of Iranians around the world,” said White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

Mehdiyev was arrested last year after he was found driving around Alinajad’s Brooklyn neighborhood with a loaded rifle and dozens of rounds of ammunition. Alinejad told the Associated Press at the time that authorities told her the man was looking for her, and that a home security video had caught him skulking outside her front door.

“The government of Iran has previously targeted dissidents around the world, including the victim, who oppose the regime’s violations of human rights,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in announcing the charges.

Amirov made his initial court appearance in New York and attorney Michael Martin entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. An attorney for Mehdiyev declined to comment. Omarov was arrested in the Czech Republic earlier this month.