Justice Department Announces Charges and New Arrest in Connection with Assassination Plot Directed from Iran

“The Victim in this case was targeted for exercising the rights to which every American citizen is entitled. The Victim publicized the Iranian Government's human rights abuses; discriminatory treatment of women; suppression of democratic participation and expression; and use of arbitrary imprisonment, torture, and execution.” -Attorney General Merrick B. Garland

“The Department of Justice will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to undermine those protections and the rule of law upon which our democracy is based. We will not tolerate attempts by a foreign power to threaten, silence, or harm Americans. We will stop at nothing to identify, find, and bring to justice those who endanger the safety of the American people.” -Attorney General Merrick B. Garland

“Today’s indictment exposes a dangerous menace to national security – a double threat posed by a vicious transnational crime group operating from what it thought was the safe haven of a rogue nation: Iran.” -Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco

“As national security and criminal threats continue to blend, the Department of Justice will use all its tools to zealously protect freedom and hold accountable all those who would use violence to undermine it.” -Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco

“Today’s charges underscore the Department’s commitment to protecting Americans and our fundamental values in the face of all forms of transnational repression. To foreign actors who plot violence on our soil believing they are out of our reach, know that we will pursue you, wherever you may be, until we deliver justice.” -Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen