Money, lies and brute force were the tools. New York-based journalist Masih Alinejad was the target. Silencing an outspoken critic of the Iranian regime was the objective.
An indictment unsealed in federal court Tuesday in New York revealed that the ambitious plot to capture Alinejad spanned three continents.
According to the plan, Alinejad, who works for Voice of America, was to be abducted at her home in Brooklyn, taken to a waiting speedboat and forced aboard a larger ship bound for Venezuela.
She would then, according to a federal law enforcement source WTOP spoke to, 鈥渓ikely be taken aboard a direct flight from Caracas to Tehran.鈥�
William Sweeney, FBI assistant director in charge of the New York Field Office, said of the plan, 鈥淭his is not some far-fetched movie plot. We allege a group, backed by the Iranian government, conspired to kidnap a U.S.-based journalist here on our soil and forcibly return her to Iran.鈥�
The conspiracy involved hiring private investigators, which prosecutors say the suspects accomplished 鈥渂y misrepresenting their identities and the purpose of the surveillance to the investigators.鈥�
They also allegedly laundered money into the United States from Iran in order to pay for surveillance, photos and video recordings of Alinejad.
It鈥檚 not clear what her fate would鈥檝e been had the plan worked, but there is evidence that death was not out of the question.
2 victims
The chilling details in the indictment included the names and photos of two Iranians who weren鈥檛 as fortunate as she.
One of them was Ruhollah Zam, a resident of France with refugee status, who according to court documents 鈥渨as lured by Iranian intelligence services to leave France in October 2019.鈥�
While travelling abroad, Zam was captured by Iranian intelligence services and imprisoned in Iran. According to the indictment, he was executed by the Iranian government in December of last year.
The other victim is Jamshid Sharmahd, a broadcast journalist, who had lived in Los Angeles since 2003.
In 2011, he spoke with WTOP about Iran鈥檚 attempts to kill him dating back to 2009.
鈥淚 was at work when the police called me and asked me to come to come to the station,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen I arrived, they said my life was in danger, that they had reason to believe someone was trying to kill me. It was very clear the Iranian government was behind this.鈥�
But despite his suspicion, prosecutors investigating the plot to kidnap Alinejad said Sharmahd, 鈥渁 lawful resident of the United States, was lured by Iranian intelligence services to leave the U.S. in July of 2020.鈥�
While travelling abroad, Sharmahd, who suffers from Parkinson鈥檚 disease, was captured by Iranian intelligence services and remains imprisoned in Iran. His exact location is unknown.
In a broadcast on Iranian state-owned television on or about Aug. 1, 2020, Mahmoud Alavi, the head of Iran鈥檚 Ministry of Intelligence and Security (鈥淢OIS鈥�), publicly claimed MOIS鈥檚 responsibility for Sharmahd鈥檚 capture, describing it as one of many 鈥渃omplex operations in striking dissidents.鈥�
Parallels
The persistent efforts of Iranian intelligence to kidnap U.S. citizens and residents was documented in an eerie by Alinejad.
鈥淎 few days ago, I woke up in my house in Brooklyn to learn that the Iranian government had unleashed a social media campaign calling for my abduction. Jame-Jam, the country鈥檚 top newspaper,聽: 鈥淢asih! Be ready! You鈥檙e the next to be kidnapped.鈥�
That threat came 24 hours after Alavi announced Sharmahd was in Iranian custody.
Five people are charged in the plot against Alinejad. Iranian intelligence official Alireza Shavaroghi Farahani and other three men believed to be intelligence assets live in Iran are still at large. Niloufar Bahadorifar, a California woman who is believed to have supported the plot financially, was arrested.
