“They couldn’t break me,” said exiled Iranian-American activist Masih Alinejad on Wednesday, facing the two individuals who had tried, rather clumsily, to send hit men to her Brooklyn home. Both were sentenced to 25 years in federal prison.
Alinejad, proclaiming herself “a great woman” and “a strong woman,” spoke in a Manhattan federal courtroom just a short distance from Rafat Amirov, 46, and Polad Omarov, 41. These men were convicted in March of plotting to pay $500,000 in “blood money” for a failed assassination attempt in July 2022.
According to the jury, Omarov, originally from Iran, and Amirov, from Georgia, had sent Khalid Mehdiyev, a would-be gunman, to Alinejad’s Flatbush residence armed with an AK-47.
Federal officials labeled both men as senior members of a Russian criminal organization known as the Thieves’ War, while Mehdiyev was described as a lower-ranking accomplice who claimed he was working at a Bronx pizzeria when he was approached for the job.
Senior District Judge Colleen McMahon described the group as “a bunch of thugs” before delivering the sentence.
“There is no question that this is a terrible crime,” she remarked, noting the impact it had on some truly talented individuals.
Mehdiyev, who took a plea deal, was a witness during his former associates’ trial. He acknowledged that flashy methods, such as ordering food from a car with an out-of-state license plate while loitering outside Alinejad’s home, had undermined the case.
He was arrested on July 28, 2022, after running a stop sign while donning a ski mask, which led police to discover a loaded weapon in his vehicle.
Alinejad, 49, is known for her vocal criticism of the Iranian government and for encouraging women to resist strict laws regarding headscarves and hijabs, often at great personal risk.
In court, she recounted her struggles, revealing she has moved 21 times since leaving Iran in 2009. U.S. officials indicated she has survived several attempts on her life.
“I came across the ocean to America to have a normal life, but I don’t have a normal life,” Alinejad expressed. “When I arrived, my dream was to ride a bike freely, but now that’s impossible due to criminals.”
A Manhattan jury took less than four hours on March 20 to convict Amirov and Omarov on multiple charges, including murder for hire, conspiracy, and money laundering.
Alinejad vividly described a chilling moment from the day of the assassination attempt, recalling how she spotted the would-be killer staring into her eyes across her front porch and mistook it for a mere glance at her garden.
The jurors also learned that Omarov and Amirov had nonchalantly discussed the idea of killing Alinejad as a “birthday present” for a supporter in Iran.
“I am a survivor of this assassination attempt,” Alinejad told the court. “Even as I sit here today, I can feel the humiliation of having my life reduced to a transaction.”
“These people barely know who I am,” she added.
Mehdiyev, who lived in Yonkers at the time of his arrest, is scheduled for sentencing at a later date.
