The indictment unsealed in federal court in Minnesota is at least the third Iran-based murder-for-hire plot prosecuted by the Justice Department since 2022. The targets in the previous cases were former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton and a New York-based Iranian-American journalist.
Prosecutors say the latest alleged plot was orchestrated by an Iranian national, Naji Sharifi Zindashti, but the indictment does not accuse the Iranian government of directing the scheme.