The Iranian Government hired Polad Omarov and Rafat Amirov to kill a journalist Masih Alinejad, in exchange for $500,000, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Rafat Amirov a/k/a “Farkhaddin Mirzoev,” a/k/a “Pᴎᴍ,” a/k/a “Rome,” and Polad Omarov, a/k/a “Araz Aliyev,” a/k/a “Polad Qaqa,” a/k/a “Haci Qaqa,” were each sentenced to 25 years in prison for their participation in a murder-for-hire plot targeting Masih Alinejad, a journalist, author, and human rights activist, on behalf of the Iran government.
In March 2025, Amirov and Omarov were found guilty of murder-for-hire, attempted murder in aid of racketeering, and related charges, following a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon, who imposed the sentences.
“The defendants and their criminal associates came chillingly close to gunning down an Iranian-American journalist on the streets of New York.” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “Tehran has long sought to silence Ms. Alinejad, and after multiple failed kidnapping attempts, turned to Omarov and Amirov and their organization to stalk and murder her. This case is part of a well-documented and disturbing rise in plots involving criminal networks paid by Iran to target dissidents in the United States and around the world. We are committed to holding accountable those who join forces with this vile regime to violate our national sovereignty or threaten U.S. citizens.”
Amirov and Omarov were high-ranking members of an Azerbaijani faction of the Russian mob who worked with other members to kill Alinejad on instructions from high-ranking members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Alinejad has previously been the target of multiple plots by the government of Iran to intimidate, harass, and kidnap her for her work as a journalist, author, and human rights activist who has publicized the Government of Iran’s human rights abuses, especially its discriminatory and oppressive treatment of women, repression of political expression, and killings of Iranians engaged in peaceful protests against the regime. As recently as 2020 and 2021, Iranian intelligence officials and assets plotted to kidnap Alinejad from within the U.S. for rendition to Iran in an effort to silence her criticism of the Iranian regime.
FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia welcomed the arrest. “Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, two highly ranked members of the Russian Mob, attempted to assassinate Masih Alinejad to permanently silence her criticism of the Iranian government and public advocacy of human rights. These defendants operated as unlawful enforcers for a foreign government to target an American journalist on our nation’s soil. May yesterday’s sentencing emphasize the FBI’s steadfast commitment to protecting Americans against any foreign actor seeking to inflict terror and physical harm to further a political agenda.”
The plot spanned three continents and included posting a hitman at Alinejad's Brooklyn apartment.
“The Government of Iran, a sponsor of terrorism, assassination, and espionage around the globe, brazenly brought its efforts to murder Masih Alinejad to New York,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton. “The plot exposed at trial involved actors on three continents, culminating with a hitman with an AK-47 outside Ms. Alinejad’s apartment in Brooklyn. Yesterday’s sentences send a clear message: the DOJ and our partners will expose and severely punish those who target U.S. citizens and bring terror to our community.”
When the mob failed to kidnap Alinejad in 2020 and 2021, the IRGC turned to Amirov - a Vor, or thief-in-law, the highest rank in the Russian Mob—and Omarov—the cousin of a powerful Vor who aspired to become a Vor himself—to locate, surveil, and murder her.
The IRGC offered Amirov $500,000 for Alinejad’s murder and provided him with targeting information about Alinejad, including her home address. In July 2022, Amirov sent this targeting information to Omarov, who sent it to a hitman in Yonkers. Mehdiyev was paid $30,000 to buy an AK-47 rifle, two magazines, and 66 rounds of ammunition.
“This sentencing marks a victory for justice and a clear warning to those who seek to export repression onto U.S. soil,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. “The plot, orchestrated by the Iranian government to assassinate a dissident living in America, demonstrates the lengths to which authoritarian actors will go to silence voices of freedom. The FBI remains steadfast in its mission to defend the homeland from anyone who participates in transnational repression and threatens our democratic values.”
In late July 2022, Mehdiyev repeatedly traveled to Alinejad’s neighborhood to surveil her residence and locate her.
Mehdiyev sent photographs, videos, and updates on his stakeouts to Omarov and Amirov.
On July 24, 2022, Mehdiyev reported to Omarov from Alinejad’s residence that he was “at the crime scene.” On July 27, 2022, Omarov told Amirov that Mehdiyev was ready to kill Alinejad, writing “this matter will be over today. I told them to make a birthday present for me. I pressured them, they will sleep there this night.” On July 28, 2022, Mehdiyev sent Omarov a video taken from inside the car that Mehdiyev was driving with the assault rifle and a message reading, “we are ready.”
While Omarov was stalking Alinejad on July 28, 2022, he was pulled over for committing a traffic violation. During a search, police officers found the assault rifle, 66 rounds of ammunition, including one in the chamber of the assault rifle; approximately $1,100 in cash; gloves; and a black ski mask. After Mehdiyev was arrested and placed into custody, Omarov contacted Mehdiyev’s mother and threatened to kill her and her other son if she did not locate Mehdiyev, in part because the IRGC was demanding the return of its money. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and its New York Field Office Counterintelligence-Cyber Division and the New York FBI Iran Threat Task Force. Clayton also thanked the New York City Police Department and the NYPD Intelligence Bureau, as well as the Department of Justice’s National Security Division and the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, for their assistance. Mr. Clayton also thanked the authorities in the Czech Republic.
This case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Lockard, Jacob H. Gutwillig, and Matthew J.C. Hellman are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorneys Christopher Rigali and Leslie Esbrook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.