Two Men Are Convicted in Plot to Kill Iranian Dissident in New York City

For nearly a decade, people with ties to Iran’s government have been accused of plotting to kidnap or murder Masih Alinejad, a journalist and dissident who left the country in 2009 and an impassioned critic of its leaders.

On Thursday, a jury in Manhattan returned guilty verdicts in the first criminal case stemming from those attempts to go to trial.

Two accused members of the Russian mob, who prosecutors said had plotted to kill Ms. Alinejad at the behest of a network in Iran that included a brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, were found guilty in Federal District Court of five offenses including murder for hire, attempted murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to launder money.

Both defendants, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, stood quietly as the jury’s foreman answered “guilty” in response to Judge Colleen McMahon’s questions about each of the counts. They were then led from the courtroom.

Read more: New York Times