Two men stand trial in New York over alleged plot to kill Iranian journalist

Two men accused of involvement in an Iranian government plan to assassinate a prominent Iranian-American journalist and human rights activist went on trial in New York on Monday.

The two defendants, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, are alleged to be members of an Eastern European crime syndicate with links to Iran.

Prosecutors charged them in January 2023 with conspiring to murder Masih Alinejad, a journalist, author, and contributor to Voice of America who fled Iran following the country's contested 2009 presidential election.

Alinejad has confirmed she was the intended target, and is expected to testify during the trial about repeated threats she has faced from the Iranian government. 

Addressing more than 100 prospective jurors at the Manhattan court, Judge Colleen McMahon explained that the trial would last less than three weeks and outlined the charges, which include murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire.

"Nobody got killed," McMahon told jurors. "There was, in fact, no murder. Nobody got hurt."

She also reminded the court that both Amirov and Omarov had pleaded not guilty and remained presumed innocent until proven otherwise.

During the trial, prosecutors intend to call expert witnesses to testify that the Iranian government has long targeted political dissidents abroad, including Alinejad, for kidnapping or assassination.

The US government’s indictment states that Iran “is actively targeting nationals of the United States and its allies living in countries around the world for kidnapping and/or execution, in order to repress and silence dissidents critical of the Iranian regime”. 

Judge McMahon has ruled that while limited testimony about Iran’s history of targeting dissidents will be allowed, extensive