Two Men in the US Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Plot to Kill Iranian Activist Masih Alinejad

Image: Ebrahim Noroozi/AP

A US court has sentenced two men to 25 years in prison each for attempting to assassinate Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist and women’s rights activist.

The verdict was issued on Wednesday (29 October). According to prosecutors, the case was part of a failed plot by the Iranian government to silence its critics abroad.

Masih Alinejad, who now lives in the United States, is a prominent and well-known women’s rights advocate leading the campaign against Iran’s compulsory hijab law.

US prosecutors said the two men, identified as Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, members of a Russian criminal network, were paid by the Iranian government to kill Alinejad in New York City. Reports indicate that the plot was devised in July 2022, with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) allegedly offering them half a million dollars to carry it out.

In court, Alinejad said: “I fled Iran to live freely, but I am still not free. My only crime is becoming the voice of Iranian women.” She urged the judge to impose a heavy sentence to send a message to the Iranian government that it cannot kill its opponents abroad.

US prosecutors stressed that the goal of the plot was not only to assassinate one woman but to “intimidate millions of women” across Iran who, inspired by Alinejad, continue to fight against injustice and state oppression.