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Iranwire – A man identifying himself as a member of a Russian organized crime group testified on Tuesday that he attempted to kill Iranian-American activist and journalist Masih Alinejad in 2022.
Khalid Mehdiyev, 27, told a Manhattan federal court that he was arrested in July 2022 in Brooklyn while in possession of an AK-47 rifle and a ski mask.
“I was there to try to kill the journalist,” Mehdiyev said.
Prosecutors say defendants Rafat Amirov, 45, and Polad Omarov, 40, hired Mehdiyev to assassinate Alinejad, a New York-based activist who left Iran in 2009.
Both defendants have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder-for-hire and attempted murder in aid of racketeering.
Federal prosecutor Jacob Gutwillig said during opening statements that the Iranian government had offered $500,000 to Amirov and Omarov to orchestrate Alinejad’s murder, Reuters reported.
“The defendants were hired guns for the government of Iran,” Gutwillig said.
Mehdiyev, who has pleaded guilty to attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm, also testified about his criminal activities in Azerbaijan.
He faces a minimum 15-year sentence for the assassination attempt and separate racketeering charges.
