NEW YORK, NY – Two men hired by the Iranian government to assassinate Iranian-American journalist and human rights activist Masih Alinejad have each been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison.
According to the Department of Justice, Rafat Amirov, 46, of Iran, and Polad Omarov, 41, of Georgia, were convicted in March 2025 of murder-for-hire, attempted murder in aid of racketeering, and related charges. Prosecutors said both men were high-ranking members of an Azerbaijani faction of the Russian Mob who were paid $500,000 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to organize the murder.
The plot, which was orchestrated by Iranian intelligence officials, followed earlier failed kidnapping attempts against Alinejad, who has been a vocal critic of Iran’s repression of women and political dissent. The operation involved criminal associates across three continents and culminated in a hitman with an AK-47 outside Alinejad’s Brooklyn home in July 2022.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said the plot represented “a disturbing rise in schemes involving criminal networks paid by Iran to target dissidents in the United States.” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton added that the case demonstrated “Iran’s brazen attempt to bring its campaign of repression onto American soil.”
In addition to prison sentences, both defendants were ordered to pay a $500 special assessment. The FBI New York Field Office, the NYPD, and the Justice Department’s National Security Division led the investigation, with assistance from the Czech Republic.
