FBI: Iranian intelligence operatives plotted to kidnap U.S. journalist

NEW YORK - A federal grand jury in Manhattan has indicted an Iranian intelligence officer and three alleged members of an Iranian intelligence network with plotting to lure a U.S. journalist and human rights activist from New York to Iran, authorities announced on Tuesday.

The plot was part of a wider plan to lure three individuals in Canada and a fifth person in the United Kingdom to Iran, according to the accusations in the indictment filed in Manhattan federal court.

The plotters also targeted victims in the United Arab Emirates, authorities said. The identities of the alleged victims were not released.

All of the targeted victims had been critical of Iran, including Masih Alinejad, of Brooklyn, a journalist, author, and human rights activist who has publicized the government of Iran's human rights abuses, according to the indictment.

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The FBI has identified the Iranian intelligence officer, who remains a fugitive, as Alireza Shavaroghi Farahani. Farahani, 50, and three other defendants tried since at least June 2020 to kidnap the U.S. citizen of Iranian origin who lives in Brooklyn, the indictment said.

Federal authorities identified the others charged in the kidnapping plot as Mahmoud Khazein, 42, Kiya Sadeghi, 35, and Omid Noori, 45, all from Iran and all fugitives.

The FBI has issued wanted notices for all four of them. If they are ever caught and convicted, they could all face life in prison.

"As alleged, four of the defendants monitored and planned to kidnap a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin who has been critical of the regime’s autocracy, and to forcibly take their intended victim to Iran, where the victim’s fate would have been uncertain at best," U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a statement. "Among this country's most cherished freedoms is the right to speak one’s mind without fear of government reprisal. A U.S. citizen living in the United States must be able to advocate for human rights without being targeted by foreign intelligence operatives."

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The FBI arrested Niloufar Bahadorifar, also known as Nellie, on July 1 in California. Although not charged in the kidnapping plot, she is accused of providing U.S. financial and other services to Iranian residents and entities — and some financial services supported the plot and violated sanctions against Iran, according to a release.

The indictment said Bahadorifar, 46, originally from Iran, works at a California department store. Bahadorifar's lawyer, Assistant Federal Defender Martin Cohen, declined to comment.

Bahadorifar has pleaded not guilty to charges lodged at the time of her arrest and been released on bail, authorities said. She still faces arraignment on charges in Tuesday's superseding indictment.

"Every person in the United States must be free from harassment, threats and physical harm by foreign powers," Acting U.S. Assistant Attorney General Mark J. Lesko said. "Through this indictment, we bring to light one such pernicious plot to harm an American citizen who was exercising their First Amendment rights, and we commit ourselves to bring the defendants to justice."

William F. Sweeney Jr., the head of New York's FBI office, noted that the indictment sounded a bit like "some far-fetched movie plot."

"This 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. Not on our watch," Sweeney said. "FBI special agents and analysts will continue to aggressively hunt for foreign operatives who attempt illegal action inside our borders or against our citizens."

Farahani and the network he led on multiple occasions in 2020 and 2021 lied about his intentions as he hired private investigators to surveil, photograph and video record the targeted journalist and his household members, the indictment said. It said the surveillance included a live high-definition video feed of the journalist's home.

The indictment alleged that the government of Iran in 2018 tried to lure the journalist to a third country so a capture would be possible, even offering money to the journalist's relatives to try to make it possible. The relatives, the indictment said, refused the offer.

Authorities noted, as did the indictment, that an electronic device used by Farahani contains a photograph of the New York journalist alongside pictures of two other individuals. Those individuals, the indictment said, were captured by Iranian intelligence authorities. One was later executed and the other was imprisoned, it said.

Sadeghi researched a service offering military-style speedboats that could perform a maritime evacuation out of New York City that would ultimately reach Venezuela, whose de facto government has friendly relations with Iran, according to the indictment.

Khazein researched travel routes from the journalist's residence to a waterfront neighborhood in Brooklyn and the location of the journalist's residence relative to Venezuela and Tehran, the FBI said, according to the indictment. 

"Working side-by-side with our international partners, the FBI’s reach is global," Sweeney said. "When we find you, you will be brought here and held accountable under U.S. law."