Iran hires crime gangs to murder dissidents in West

Officials fear Tehran’s spies are recruiting gangsters to target opponents of their regime on British and US soil.

Khalid Mehdiyev, an Azerbaijani, told Polad Omarov, another senior member of the gang, that he was ‘at the crime scene’ last July 24

Iran is trying to hire gangsters to attack dissidents in the West.

British security officials are understood to be aware of attempts by Iranian spies to recruit members of organised crime groups to target opponents of the regime on British soil. It follows recent claims by Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, the British domestic intelligence service, that Iran sought to kidnap or assassinate British residents on at least 10 occasions last year. Separately, dissidents in London have been warned about Iran’s latest modus operandi by counter-terrorism police as the regime seeks to clamp down on widespread human rights protests.

Iranian spies are thought to be forging closer ties with criminals as sanctions and increased scrutiny by the security services aim to make it more difficult for them to deploy their own agents and assets in Britain and other Western nations. The use of hired “muscle” to carry out a murder or attack could also allow Iran to deny any involvement as it seeks to maintain diplomatic ties.

Tehran’s use of criminals in murder-for-hire plots is at the heart of an American case involving a journalist and women’s rights activist. Last month the US authorities charged three members of an eastern European gang with the attempted assassination of Masih Alinejad, who is an Iranian-born US citizen.

One of the gang members – Khalid Mehdiyev, an Azerbaijani living in New York – was discovered close to Ms Alinejad’s New York home with an AK47-style assault rifle he described as a “war machine”. He is alleged to have been acting on orders from Tehran, via an associate in the Czech Republic.

In Germany, police believe Iran used the leader of a Hells Angels gang to help orchestrate terrorist attacks on two synagogues in November.

The danger posed to dissidents in Britain became clear the same month, when staff at Iran International, an opposition television channel, were warned of an “imminent” and “credible threat to life” by Scotland Yard.

It is believed that Tehran’s intelligence services have displayed a high level of intent to collaborate with serious and organised crime networks to harm opponents in the West. Hundreds of Iranian dissidents in Britain have been given leaflets by counter-terrorism police that provide precautionary advice on “How you can keep yourself safe”.

When London-based journalist Potkin Azarmehr was visited by officers, they warned him Iran had “changed its modus operandi”. “They told me that Iran hasn’t carried out an assassination for a while, but they are now hiring criminal gangs as a proxy. An attack could take the form of a road rage incident or a shove from behind on a Tube platform.”

US Deputy Attorney-General Lisa Monaco described the alliance as a “dangerous menace to national security” when details were revealed last month about the alleged plot to assassinate Ms Alinejad. The 46-year-old author has been at the forefront of a campaign encouraging women and girls to defy strict laws requiring them to wear the hijab.

US prosecutors claim in court papers that Tehran hired eastern European mobsters to murder Ms Alinejad at her home in Brooklyn last northern summer. The leader of the gang, Rafat Amirov, 43, a citizen of Russia and Azerbaijan, was living in Iran when he was allegedly “tasked with targeting the victim”.

Prosecutors claim Mr Mehdiyev, 24, told Polad Omarov, another senior member of the gang, that he was “at the crime scene” last July 24, adding: “We blocked it from both sides; it will be a show when she steps out of the house.”

The attack was foiled when Ms Alinejad became suspicious and fled. Mr Mehdiyev was stopped by police for a traffic offence and arrested when they discovered the rifle, 66 rounds of ammunition, more than $US1000 ($1445) in cash and a ski mask in his car.

All three have been charged with murder-for-hire and money-laundering. Mr Omarov was arrested in the Czech Republic. Amirov was somehow taken into US custody from Iran.

THE SUNDAY TIMES