UANI Statement on Sentencing in Iranian Regime Murder-for-Hire Plot Against Masih Alinejad

(New York, N.Y.) – United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) Chairman Governor Jeb Bush and CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace released the following statement today upon the sentencing of Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov for murder-for-hire and attempted murder targeting Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad:

“Today justice has been served. Iran’s regime engaged in a brazen murder-for-hire plot against an American citizen on U.S. soil. That is tantamount to an act of war against the United States. 

“While we welcome the sentence handed down today, senior members of the Iranian regime, which approved this operation and others, have yet to be indicted. These include Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF) Commander Esmail Ghaani, Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, and others. They, too, should face American justice. If Nicolas Maduro, the president of Venezuela, can be indicted by a federal grand jury, Ali Khamenei can be indicted for his crimes as well.

“Additionally, while the law enforcement and judicial response to Iran’s extraterritorial terror operations have been critical, the U.S. government’s policy response has been insufficient across administrations of both parties. The Trump administration should designate the transnational criminal syndicates that Tehran employs against American citizens as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs). Just like it designated drug cartels like CDN (formerly known as Los Zetas) as FTOs—with the Iranian regime employing Los Zetas in 2011 to bomb Israeli and Saudi embassies—President Trump should similarly designate organizations like Thieves-in-Law, which Iran’s regime enlisted to try and kill Masih Alinejad. 

“In March, the Trump administration rightfully sanctioned Foxtrot, based in Sweden, as a transnational criminal organization because the Iranian regime used the group to silence Tehran’s critics. The U.S. government similarly sanctioned MS-13 before it was designated as an FTO. That should provide the basis to sanction the wide range of criminal organizations used by Tehran for terrorism around the world as FTOs. These include the Mocro-Mafia, Hell’s Angels, Rumba, and the Kinahan Organized Crime Group, among others. 

“Over the weekend, Israel disclosed that Sardar Ammar, a commander of the IRGC-QF working under Esmail Ghaani, is the head of a specialized network carrying out these terror operations in Australia, Germany, and beyond using criminal syndicates to avoid implicating the Islamic Republic. This represents a threat to Jewish Americans, Iranian Americans, and Israel. It is overdue for the United States and its allies and partners to move beyond mere statements and law enforcement responses and take more substantive measures against Iran. This includes developing a credible and collective military threat against those Iranian security and intelligence entities plotting against Americans and our allies and partners around the world.”

To read a paper UANI Policy Director Jason Brodsky authored arguing for the designation of Iran’s criminal syndicates as FTOs, please click here.