US charges Iranian general in alleged plot to assassinate rights activist

​​​​​​​WASHINGTON

Federal prosecutors charged a top Iranian general and three others for an alleged 2022 plot to kill a human rights activist on American soil, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

The indictment against Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Brig. Gen. Ruhollah Bazghandi, as well as Haj Thaer, Hossein Sedighi and Seyed Mohammad Forouzan allege that the men engaged an Eastern European criminal group to murder activist Masih Alinejad in New York City two years ago.

They have been charged with murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sanctions against the government of Iran. The men face 60 years in prison if found guilty on all charges.

They remain at large.

The plot was foiled by the US government. The Justice Department in January 2023 charged three individuals with belonging to the criminal group with money laundering and murder-for-hire charges. But the indictment unsealed Tuesday marks the first time that a senior Iranian official is being charged with involvement in the murder attempt.

“The Justice Department has now charged eight individuals, including an Iranian military official, for their efforts to silence and kill a U.S. citizen because of her criticism of the Iranian regime,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

“We will not tolerate efforts by an authoritarian regime like Iran to undermine the fundamental rights guaranteed to every American. Three of the defendants charged in this horrific plot are now in U.S. custody, and we will never stop working to identify, find, and bring to justice all those who endanger the safety of the American people,” he added.

The US sanctioned Bazghandi in April for his alleged involvement in the detention of foreign prisoners in Iran.

Rafat Amirov, 43; Polad Omarov, 38, of the Czech Republic and Slovenia and Khalid Mehdiyev, 24, of Yonkers, New York were previously charged in connection with the assassination case.

Omarov and Amirov are alleged to belong to an Eastern European criminal organization while Mehdiyev was arrested last year after police discovered him with an assault rifle and 66 rounds of ammunition near the victim's home in Brooklyn. All three are in US custody

A fourth individual, Zialat Mamedov, was also charged but he was extradited from the Czech Republic to Georgia to face charges in that country.