Iranian Guard Official Accused in Attempted Murder of Exiled Journalist

An Iranian Revolutionary Guard official has been charged with a conspiracy to assassinate an Iranian American writer on U.S. soil, according to a revised indictment filed on Tuesday.

Ruhollah Bazghandi, along with three other men, has been named in the updated charges related to the attempted assassination of Masih Alinejad. Bazghandi remains at large.

Alinejad, an Iranian opposition activist and journalist, has been residing in exile in New York City. Although her name does not appear in the court documents, reports indicate that she was the intended target.

Alinejad left Iran following the controversial presidential election in 2009. Court documents describe Bazghandi as a brigadier general who once led the Revolutionary Guard’s counterintelligence division.

In October 2017, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated the Revolutionary Guard as a global terrorist organisation, citing its significant role in supporting Iran’s international terrorism activities. In April 2023, the office alleged that Bazghandi was involved in assassination plots targeting journalists, Israeli citizens, and other perceived enemies of Iran, in addition to his role in the detention of foreign prisoners in Iran and his involvement in the Revolutionary Guard’s counterintelligence operations in Syria, according to the indictment.

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