Iran Revolutionary Guard official charged in plot to kill Iranian American human rights activist in NYC

U.S. prosecutors have charged a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of Iran in an assassination plot to kill Masih Alinejad, an Iranian American human rights activist, on American soil.

The updated indictment names Ruhollah Bazghandi and three other men in a "murder-for-hire" plot, as well as money-laundering, and sanctions evasion charges. 

The Iranian opposition activist and journalist has been living in exile in New York City. The unsealed indictment does not mention her name, but Alinejad confirmed to The Associated Press and The New York Times that she was the intended target.

Bazghandi is described in court papers as a brigadier general who previously served as chief of the Revolutionary Guard's counterintelligence department.

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In October 2017, the U.S. government designated the IRGC as a global terrorist group, saying it has played a key role in supporting Iran's involvement in international terrorism. 

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In April 2023, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said Bazghandi was involved in assassination plots against journalists, Israeli citizens and others deemed enemies of Iran, along with his participation in the detention of foreign prisoners held in Iran and involvement in operations in Syria by the Revolutionary Guard's counterintelligence department, the indictment noted.

Federal prosecutors charged seven other individuals.

"We will not tolerate efforts by an authoritarian regime like Iran to undermine the fundamental rights guaranteed to every American," Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement. "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." 

Bazghandi is not in custody. 

Alinejad fled Iran following the country's disputed 2009 presidential election.

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Alinejad told The New York Times she was "more determined to give voice to Iranian people, especially women, who actually face the same killers within their country."