E-Paper
How a hitman's comedy of errors exposed bid to kill journalist Masih Alinejad
Trial over an alleged Iran-backed plot to assassinate American journalist Masih Alinejad reached a New York city federal court
An alleged Iranian government-backed plot to kill American journalist Masih Alinejad, an author and contributor to Voice of America, failed three years ago as her assassin, Khalid Mehdiyev, committed a comedy of errors during his attempt near her New York residence.
Alinejad was a prominent Iranian journalist and human rights activist who fled the country after the disputed 2009 presidential election. She became a US citizen in October 2019 and has survived multiple attempts at her life since, reported AP.
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As the case reached trial at a New York City federal court, Alinejad posted on social media that she was overwhelmed with mixed emotions. “You might find this hard to believe — but for simply posting videos of myself showing my hair and encouraging women in Iran to do the same, the regime sent a man with an AK-47 to my house in Brooklyn to kill me,” she said.
Two Azerbaijani men are facing trial on charges of attempts to murder Alinejad. These men are part of an Eastern European criminal organization that “was tasked” with targeting Alinejad by unidentified people there. They recruited New York-based Khalid Mehdiyev for $30,000 to execute their assignment.
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Comedy of errors
Mehdiyev arrived at Alinejad's residence in a vehicle registered in the state of Illinois on July 27, 2022. Instead of waiting and watching the journalist's movement, the accused texted her for help with poor grammar, NDTV reported.
“Hey. How are you? I wanna make immigrants paper, do u can help for that?,” he wrote.
“U the best journalist,” he sent in another one.
Mehdiyev was spotted out of his car frequently and seen wandering the journalist's residence to plan his assignment, the report said.
The assassin also peeped through Alinejad's window and also disturbed the front door handle. To add to his problems, he also ordered food to a location from where he used to monitor her activities secretly.
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More blunders and arrest
The next day, Mehdiyev failed to stop at a stop sign as required by traffic laws and got pulled over by the police who were nearby. He was arrested on a federal firearms charge after police found he had a gun, ammunition magazines, cash and a black ski mask, authorities said.
Mehdiyev told the police that the assault rifle had been inside his car since he borrowed it earlier that day.
Put behind bars, he managed to contact his immediate bosses from jail using a smuggled phone and got yelled at for his blunders. “Where the f**k you at? How the f**k are you in jail? You were at the journalist's house!,” asked his Azerbaijani handler and vowed to eliminate Mehdiyev's entire family, NDTV reported.
Mehdiyev confessed during trial that he was paid $30,000 for the job and had initially planned to set Alinejad's house on fire.
(With AP inputs)
