World

IRAN: US Charges 3 In Plot To Kill Iranian-American Author In NYC

Published

2 years ago

2023-01-28

WASHINGTON — The U.S. According to officials, the Justice Department has charged three men in an alleged plot to kill an Iranian American author and activist who has spoken out against human rights violations in Iran.

Rafat Amirov, 43, of Iran, Polad Omarov, 38, of the Czech Republic and Slovenia, and Khalid Mehdiyev, 24, of Yonkers, New York, were charged in an unsealed indictment in federal court in New York with money laundering and murder-for-hire. The three men were detained, and one was awaiting extradition to the United States.

Masih Alinejad, a New York-based Iranian opposition activist, journalist, and writer, confirmed that she was the intended target.

“I’m not scared,” Alinejad said after U.S. authorities announced the charges. “I want to tell you that the Iranian regime believes that by attempting to kill me, they will silence other women or me. But they only serve to strengthen me, to make me more powerful in my fight for democracy and to give a voice to the brave women who are fighting the Islamic Republic with guns and bullets in the streets.”

She claimed FBI agents read her the messages the plotters exchanged, including a final one that said, “It’s going to be done today.”

Iran Media Did Not Acknowledge The Plot

Iran’s U.N. mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the charges. Late Friday, Iranian state media did not immediately acknowledge the alleged plot.

While the alleged plotlines in Iran, the indictment does not directly blame the country’s theocracy for the alleged murder-for-hire.

Nonetheless, the case “follows a disturbing pattern of Iranian government-sponsored efforts to kill, torture, and intimidate activists into silence for speaking out for the rights and freedoms of Iranians around the world,” according to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

Mehdiyev was caught last year while driving around Masih’s Brooklyn neighborhood with a loaded “AK-47-style” rifle and a lot of bullets. At the time, Alinejad told The Associated Press that authorities had told her that the man was looking for her and that a home security video had captured him skulking outside her front door.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said when he announced the charges, “The Iranian government has previously gone after dissidents around the world, including the victim, who are against the regime’s violations of human rights.”

Victim Had Kidnapping Plots Against Her

He claimed that “individuals in Iran” tasked the defendants with carrying out the assassination plot.

“The victim made public the Iranian government’s human rights violations, discrimination against women, suppression of democratic participation and expression, and use of arbitrary imprisonment, torture, and execution,” Garland said. “This activity posed such a threat to the Iranian government in 2019 that the chief judge of Iran’s Revolutionary courts warned that anyone who sent videos criticizing the regime to the victim would be sentenced to prison,” according to the report.

He claimed that in 2021, an Iranian intelligence official and three others were charged with plotting to kidnap the victim.

All three defendants are Azerbaijanis, a country with a border and cultural ties to Iran.

Amirov appeared in court for the first time in New York, and his attorney, Michael Martin, entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf. During the brief court appearance, the defense did not immediately request bail. Amirov used a Russian interpreter because he speaks it, although it is not his first language.

Evolving Threat And Brazen Behavior

Mehdiyev’s attorney declined to comment on Friday. Omarov was arrested earlier this month in the Czech Republic. It was unclear whether he had an attorney speaking on his behalf.

“This case also highlights Iran’s evolving threat and increasingly brazen behavior,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. She also mentioned charges filed against members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate a former U.S. national security adviser and charges filed against Iranian hackers accused of targeting utility companies.

FBI Director Christopher Wray says that Iranian intelligence and security services have been using more “transnational repression tactics” in recent years to go after political opponents and critics. He said that tactics in Iran include surveillance, cyber operations, intimidation of family and friends, and kidnapping and assassination plots.

“The Iranian government’s efforts to silence its critics are not limited to Iranian borders,” Wray said.

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are higher than usual, with the Biden administration’s efforts to resurrect a 2015 deal limiting Iran’s nuclear program failing and the U.S. condemning Iran’s targeting of protesters in Iran. Iran is also said to have given Russia drones that Russia has used to attack civilian targets in Ukraine.

Calls For Congress To Do Something

Alinejad said that she hoped the ruthlessness of Iranians plotting to kill a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil would persuade President Joe Biden to act on calls from some in Congress and elsewhere to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.

“They are challenging U.S. authorities to see what the consequences will be if no punishment is imposed, and there is no reason for them to stop killing innocent Americans or innocent Iranians,” she said.

Alinejad was a journalist in Iran for many years. Since he left the country after the disputed presidential election and crackdown in 2009, Iran’s theocracy has been after him.

She is a prominent figure on Farsi-language satellite channels abroad that criticize Iran, and she has worked as a contractor for the Voice of America’s Farsi-language network, which the United States funds, since 2015. She became a citizen of the United States in October 2019.

Three Defendants Are Members Of An Eastern European Criminal Organization

Her “White Wednesday” and “My Stealthy Freedom” campaigns have seen women film themselves in public in Iran without head coverings or hijabs, which can result in arrests and fines. She has also made the voices of Iranian protesters louder since the death of Mahsa Amini in September. Amini died after being arrested by the morality police and was later found dead.

According to court documents, the three defendants are members of an Eastern European criminal organization with ties to Iran.

According to the indictment, Amirov, a group leader living in Iran, was “tasked” with targeting her by unnamed people. Garland declined to elaborate on where the orders came from. Amirov turned to Omarov, who lives in Eastern Europe, and together they brought Mehdiyev, who lives in New York, and paid him $30,000 in cash. US authorities say that Mehdiyev got the gun and started watching her house in July.

For more than a week, he took photos and videos and devised ways to entice her outside, according to the indictment. Mehdiyev described himself as being “at the crime scene” at one point.

Alinejad, on the other hand, left her house on July 28 after noticing something suspicious. When Mehdiyev attempted to leave, he was stopped by a New York police officer. The gun, ammunition magazines, cash, and a black ski mask were discovered by police. He was taken into custody on a federal firearms charge.

SOURCE – (AP)

World

Putin Expands Military After West Approves Long Range Missile Strikes

Published

2 days ago

2024-09-17

Geoff Thomas

Putin increases army size for third time since 2022

Putin has expanded the army's ranks since sending his military into Ukraine in February 2022 - Reuters Image

President Vladimir Putin expanded the regular size of the Russian army by 180,000 troops to 1.5 million active troops on Monday, citing NATO claims that Ukraine can use its long-range missiles to strike deep within Russia.

President Putin ordered that the overall number of the armed forces be boosted to 2.38 million individuals, with 1.5 million active military members.

According to data from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a renowned US military think tank, such an increase in military personnel would propel Russia over the United States and India in terms of active combat soldiers.

The move, the third time Putin has increased the army’s size since sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022, comes as Russian soldiers press forward in eastern Ukraine on parts of a massive 1,000-kilometer (627-mile) frontline and attempt to expel Ukrainian forces from Russia’s Kursk area.

The action comes after outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he welcomed negotiations on Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles to strike within Russian territory, but that any decision on the matter would be made by individual countries.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to speak in Washington, D.C. – Reuters Image

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been lobbying with friends for months to allow Ukraine to launch Western missiles, including long-range US ATACMS and British Storm Shadows, deep into Russia, limiting Moscow’s ability to conduct attacks.

Last week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Joe Biden discussed whether to authorise Kyiv to employ the long-range missiles against Russian targets in Washington. There was no announcement about the decision.

According to reports, Starmer supports allowing Ukraine to employ long-range missiles, whilst Biden is concerned that allowing such strikes could lead to a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia.

However, some US officials are doubtful that enabling the use of such missiles would significantly improve Kyiv’s defence against Russian invaders.

Trudeau has stressed that Ukraine should be allowed to launch strikes on targets deep into Russia – Getty Images

Analysts believe that if the West allows Ukraine to use its long-range missiles to hit Russia, Putin may retaliate by striking British military assets near Russia or, in the worst-case scenario, conducting a nuclear test to demonstrate intent.

Ulrich Kuehn, an armaments specialist at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy in Hamburg, said he did not rule out Putin sending a nuclear message, such as testing a nuclear bomb in an attempt to intimidate the West.

Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that Ukraine should be permitted to strike within Russian territory, as his American and British counterparts met in Washington to consider lifting restrictions on long-range weapons provided to Kyiv.

Putin warned that permitting Ukraine to employ long-range weaponry provided by NATO would mean that NATO countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and European countries, were at war with Russia.

Many Canadians were upset by Trudeau’s statements, feeling that he and NATO were driving Canada closer to nuclear war with Russia.

Putin Says US Long-Range Missiles Hitting Russia an Act of War

Putin Says US Long-Range Missiles Hitting Russia an Act of War

World

Germany Begins Conducting Checks At All Its Land Borders

Published

3 days ago

2024-09-16

Kiara Grace

Köhl, Germany — Germany began random checks at its crossings with five Western European countries on Monday to combat irregular migration, adding to a system of mobile border controls that is already in place at four other frontiers.

The border checks with France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Denmark began before sunrise Monday and are expected to last six months. Germany has already conducted border inspections with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland since last year.

Germany Begins Conducting Checks At All Its Land Borders

Germany, a member of the 27-member European Union, stated last week that it would expand border inspections to all nine of its land borders this week in an effort to combat irregular migration and crime in the wake of recent extremist attacks. Three people were killed in a knife assault in Solingen last month, which was blamed on a Syrian asylum seeker. The suspect claimed to be inspired by the Islamic State. In June, a knife attack linked to an Afghan immigrant killed a police officer and injured four other persons.

Border controls are putting European unity to the test, as some perceive them as a departure from the spirit of the EU’s Schengen free travel and commerce agreement. One of the most valued benefits of the EU is the ability for Europeans to freely travel across borders for jobs and pleasure.

Germany, the EU’s largest country, is positioned in the heart of Europe and shares borders with more countries than any other EU member. Some trade unions have expressed worry that the curbs may harm trade.

However, a return to a previous system with closed borders and mandated border inspections for all crossings seems unlikely.

Nonetheless, German police believe the expanded checks represent a significant challenge to them.

Andreas Rosskopf, the leader of Germany’s Federal Police Union, stated that everybody crossing the border into Germany should now expect to be inspected. However, he noted that due to the length of the country’s boundaries, authorities will not be able to stop and check every car.

He pointed out that Germany has 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) on its western border, in addition to the 2,400 kilometers (1,490 miles) along its eastern and southern borders, where inspections are already in place.

He stated in an interview with RBB24 Info radio that “given the length of the border, permanent and intensive checks are not possible.” According to him, “it remains to be seen how successful it will be in curbing migration and people smuggling.”

Germany Begins Conducting Checks At All Its Land Borders

According to the EU, member states may temporarily restore controls at the EU’s so-called internal borders in the event of a major threat to internal security. However, it also states that border controls should be used as a last resort in extraordinary circumstances and must be time-restricted.

Such limitations are frequently imposed at large sporting events, such as the recent Olympic Games in Paris and the European Football Championship.

The unpopular coalition administration of Chancellor Olaf Scholz has tightened border controls to crack down on irregular immigration after the far right performed well in two recent state elections in eastern Germany. Another is coming next Sunday in Brandenburg, the state that surrounds Berlin.

SOURCE | AP

World

A River Otter Attacks A Child At A Seattle-Area Marina

Published

5 days ago

2024-09-15

Kiara Grace

Bremerton, Washington – A river otter attacked a boy at a Seattle marina, dragging him from a dock and into the water before his mother rescued him, wildlife officials said.

The toddler was pulled underneath and resurfaced briefly during the encounter Thursday at 9:30 a.m. near the Bremerton Marina in Kitsap County, according to a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife press release.

A River Otter Attacks A Child At A Seattle-Area Marina

The otter continued to attack and scratch as the mother dragged the child from the water. Wildlife officials say the animal chased them as they exited the dock. The child was treated in a hospital.

“We are grateful the victim only sustained minor injuries, due to the mother’s quick actions and the child’s resiliency,” Fish and Wildlife Sgt. Ken Balazs said. “We would also like to thank the Port of Bremerton for their quick coordination and communication to their marina tenants.”

Officers captured the otter and transported it to a disease diagnostic facility for testing, including rabies, according to the announcement. On Saturday, the government announced that illness testing results could be available as early as next Tuesday.

A River Otter Attacks A Child At A Seattle-Area Marina

River otters are prevalent in Washington and can be found in both fresh and saltwater settings, officials added. They noted that encounters with people are rare, with only six occurring in the last decade. River otters can be territorial and, “like any wildlife, are inherently unpredictable,” experts stated.

SOURCE | AP