Iranian Revolutionary Guard official charged in assassination plot targeting NYC activist

U.S. prosecutors have charged Ruhollah Bazghandi, a high-ranking official in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), in connection with a plot to assassinate Iranian American human rights activist Masih Alinejad in New York City.

The indictment, unsealed on October 22, implicates Bazghandi and three other men in a “murder-for-hire” scheme, as well as charges of money laundering and sanctions evasion.

Alinejad, a prominent critic of the Iranian regime who has lived in exile in New York, confirmed to both The Associated Press and The New York Times that she was the intended target, despite her name not being mentioned in the indictment. The activist is widely known for her fearless advocacy for women’s rights in Iran, making her a frequent target of threats from the Iranian government.

Bazghandi, identified as a brigadier general in court documents, previously served as the chief of the IRGC’s counterintelligence department, highlighting the involvement of a senior Iranian official in a bold attempt to carry out an assassination on U.S. soil.

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This is not the first time Alinejad has faced threats from Iranian operatives. In 2021, she was also the target of a kidnapping plot orchestrated by Iranian intelligence, a sign of the regime’s growing desperation to silence its critics abroad.

The U.S. Department of Justice continues to treat this case as a serious violation of national security, reinforcing concerns about the reach of Iran’s covert operations outside its borders. As tensions between the U.S. and Iran remain high, this assassination plot underscores the lengths to which the Iranian regime will go to suppress dissent, even targeting activists on foreign soil.

In a statement, Alinejad reiterated her resolve: “This is not just about me. This is about all activists who are being targeted by the Islamic Republic. They cannot silence us.”