The person at the center of this case
Prominent Iranian dissident (name withheld for safety)
Justice for Prominent Iranian dissident (name withheld for safety) — the trail went cold in 2022, but the truth hasn't.
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Where are Ruhollah Bazghandi and co-conspirators Seyed Mohammad Forouzan, Hossein Sedighi, and 'Haj Taher' currently located?
What communications and surveillance evidence links Bazghandi to the murder-for-hire network and the monitoring of the target?
How did the Eastern European criminal organization establish contact with Iranian officials, and who served as intermediaries?
Ruhollah Bazghandi, a Brigadier General in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is wanted for allegedly orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot targeting a prominent Iranian dissident in Brooklyn, New York in July 2022. The plot involved directing an Eastern European criminal organization to assassinate the dissident, resulting in the arrest of a gunman with an AK-47 near the victim's home. Bazghandi and three co-conspirators were indicted in October 2024 and remain at large, with the FBI seeking information on their whereabouts and the full scope of the conspiracy.
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Beyond the top three above — each detail below could be the thread that pulls this case open.
What is the significance of Bazghandi's known ties to Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq in relation to the conspiracy?
What other Iranian dissidents or targets may have been part of broader assassination plots directed by Bazghandi?
Even the smallest detail could be the key to solving this case.
Official wording
Murder-For-Hire; Conspiracy to Commit Murder-For-Hire; Conspiracy to Violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act Caution: Ruhollah Bazghandi and Seyed Mohammad Forouzan , along with additional co-conspirators Hossein Sedighi and an individual known only as "Haj Taher", are wanted on charges of Murder-For-Hire, Conspiracy to Commit Murder-for-Hire, and Conspiracy to Violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. These charges relate to the alleged actions by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to target Iranian dissidents.
The regime views these dissidents as enemies of the state because of their criticism of the regime’s human rights violations and their outspoken rhetoric against the Iranian Government. On July 28, 2022, a member of an Eastern European criminal organization, was arrested with a loaded AK-47 style assault rifle and 66 rounds of ammunition near a prominent Iranian dissident’s home in Brooklyn, New York.
High-ranking members in the Eastern European criminal organization allegedly tasked the arrested individual to murder the prominent Iranian dissident. Bazghandi, Forouzan, and the other two men allegedly directed the murder-for-hire plot that resulted in the arrest.
Bazghandi is a Brigadier General in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and served as a prior chief in an IRGC-IO Counterintelligence unit during the murder-for-hire plot. The United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Bazghandi twice for his alleged role in lethal targeting and assassination plots against enemies of Iran.
Bazghandi is alleged to have been in communication with the murder-for-hire network and allegedly monitored the victim and the effort to murder the victim. In October of 2024, Bazghandi, Forouzan, and the other two men were indicted in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, New York, New York, on the charges listed above and federal warrants were issued for their arrests on October 17, 2024.
Remarks: Bazghandi has ties to Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.
Member of Eastern European criminal organization arrested with loaded AK-47 style assault rifle and 66 rounds of ammunition near prominent Iranian dissident's residence in Brooklyn, New York.
Bazghandi, Forouzan, Sedighi, and 'Haj Taher' indicted in United States District Court, Southern District of New York on charges of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.