Iranian nationals indicted of conspiring to kidnap a Brooklyn-based journalist on American soil

A New York federal court unsealed an indictment Tuesday charging four Iranian nationals of conspiring to kidnap a Brooklyn-based journalist, according to a release from the Department of Justice.

The four Iranian intelligence officials were indicted on Tuesday on charges related to kidnapping, sanctions violations, bank and wire fraud, and money laundering. A co-conspirator and California resident, also of Iran, faces additional charges and is alleged to have provided the financing for the plot.

According to the indictment, the four defendants planned to kidnap Masih Alinejad, an American journalist and human rights activist of Iranian origin "for mobilizing public opinion in Iran and around the world to bring about changes to the regime’s laws and practices."

The Iranian government allegedly directed the conspirators to plan the kidnapping with the intention to take the victim back to Iran, "where the victim’s fate would have been uncertain at best," said Audrey Strauss, US attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Alireza Shavaroghi Farahani, Mahmoud Khazein, Kiya Sadeghi and Omid Noori are charged with conspiring to kidnap, conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sanctions against the government of Iran, conspiring to commit bank and wire fraud, and conspiring to launder money.

Farahani, is an Iranian intelligence official. The other defendants work under him. His network has been planning to kidnap the American journalist since June 2020 in an effort to silence her criticisms of Iranian government.

Farahani and his network are alleged to have employed private investigators to surveil their intended victim and the victim’s family. The alleged conspirators misrepresented their identities to the investigators and laundered money in order to pay for the services, according to the Justice Department.

Farahani’s network has also targeted victims in other countries, including Canada, Britain and the United Arab Emirates.

Mark J. Lesko, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s National Security Division, said, "Through this indictment, we bring to light one such pernicious plot to harm an American citizen who was exercising their First Amendment rights, and we commit ourselves to bring the defendants to justice."

Iran's attempt to kidnap Alinejad, is not the first time the terrorist regime allegedly planned attacks against a victim in America.

Manssor Arbabsiar, a naturalized American citizen, was hired by Iranian terrorists to murder of Adel al Jubeir, the then- Saudi Arabian ambassador to the US. In 2013, he received 25 years in prison for planning the crime.

The latest news comes as the Biden administration continues to embolden the terrorist state in an effort to re-enter the failed Iran nuclear deal.