A U.S. federal judge Thursday sentenced two high-ranking members of the Russian Mob, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, to 25 years in prison each for their participation in a brazen murder-for-hire plot targeting Iranian-American journalist and human rights activist Masih Alinejad on U.S. soil.

The Justice Department announced Thursday that U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon imposed the sentences after a two-week trial in March 2025, where Amirov and Omarov were found guilty of murder-for-hire, attempted murder in aid of racketeering, and related charges.

Orchestrated by Iran

According to court filings and trial evidence, the plot was orchestrated by high-ranking members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who offered Amirov, a “Vor” or Thief-in-Law (the highest rank in the

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