It is likely that Iran is deploying terrorists to assassinate American journalists on U.S. soil.
Last Thursday, a New York resident, Khalid Mehdiyev, was arrested by the NYPD on charges of driving with a suspended license. Inside Mehdiyev’s car, police said they found an AK-47 with a scrubbed serial number, 66 rounds of ammunition, and $1,100 in $100 bills. An FBI affidavit said that Mehdiyev told agents he was near Masih Alinejad’s residence the day of and the day prior to his arrest. He was also given a parking ticket on Alinejad’s block one week prior.
Alinejad is an Iranian dissident journalist who was targeted by an Iranian government kidnapping plot in July 2021. Security camera footage from Alinejad’s house shows a man lurking on her front porch. Federal authorities appear to believe that Mehdiyev intended to assassinate Alinejad.
Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
As I have reported, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran’s MOIS intelligence service are actively attempting to assassinate former government officials, including former national security adviser John Bolton and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Perhaps relevant to Mehdiyev, at least one plot against Bolton involved Iranian government efforts to recruit a U.S.-resident Iranian as an assassin. This recruitment tactic allows Iranian government assassins to avoid risking capture on U.S. soil. It also provides a veneer, albeit a thin one, of Iranian government deniability for any attack that is carried out. Still, the seriousness of these plots has led to the assigning of Secret Service and Diplomatic Security Service protective details at a cost of approximately $3 million per month. The Biden administration has played down these threats in an effort to secure Iran’s restoration of the now-defunct 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear accord. The relative silence of senior Biden administration officials concerning this latest plot against Alinejad also evinces that hesitation.
As the investigation continues, we should demand answers over what links exist between this apparent wannabe terrorist and Iranian government officials. If links are established, Iran should face serious consequences.
