On Wednesday, July 14, the U.S. Justice Department charged four Iranians for an abduction plot against Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad. Alireza Shavaroghi Farahani, also known as Vezerat Salimi and Haj Ali, 50; Mahmoud Khazein, 42; Kiya Sadeghi, 35; and Omid Noori, 45, was involved in the plot, according to a DoJ indictment.
Furthermore, the indictment revealed that a resident of California, Niloufar Bahadorifar, also known as Nellie Bahadorifar, 46, is alleged to have provided financial services that supported the plot.
The Iranian opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran strongly condemned Tehran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security’s plot against Ms. Masih Alinejad and four other Iranians in Canada and the United Kingdom, as reported by the U.S. Department of Justice and the media.
“For the past four decades, in addition to torturing, executing, and massacring political prisoners, Iran’s ruling religious fascism has always made the most of terrorism, kidnapping, and hostage-taking as well as all political, diplomatic, and economic resources as a tool against the opposition and to advance its criminal policies,” the NCRI statement read. “This regime must be shunned by the international community, and its leaders must be brought to justice for their crimes against humanity.”
Tehran orchestrated the plot while Iranian negotiators have already expressed their enthusiasm for prison swamp with the U.S. “Negotiations are underway on the exchange of prisoners between Iran and America, and we will issue more information if Iranian prisoners are released and the country’s interests are secured and the talks reach a conclusion,” said Ali Rabiei, the spokesman of outgoing President Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet, on April 27.
Iran’s Terror Attempts in the U.S. and Europe
However, the recent foiled kidnapping operation was neither the first nor the last of Tehran’s terrorist attempt in the U.S. or Europe. Back in August 2018, Ahmadreza Mohammadi-Doostdar, 38, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen, and Majid Ghorbani, 59, an Iranian citizen and resident of California, were arrested in accordance with a DoJ indictment. They were charged with conducting surveillance and gathering information on behalf of Iran on the NCRI–U.S. Representative Office.
Source: Iran Focus
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