According to a recently unsealed federal indictment, three individuals are facing charges for allegedly orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot in the United States, targeting an Iranian dissident and a woman with whom the dissident had sought refuge.
The Justice Department asserts that Naji Sharifi Zindashti, operating from Iran, masterminded the international plot spanning from 2020 to 2021, intending to dispatch a team of hired gunmen to target the two unnamed victims residing in Maryland.
Zindashti’s Plan Thwarted, Indictment Disclosed
However, the indictment reveals that Zindashti’s plan was thwarted.
The investigation indicates that starting in December 2020, Zindashti initiated communication with Damion Patrick John Ryan, a 43-year-old Canadian and member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, regarding a potential financial opportunity.
Subsequently, in the following month, Ryan reached out to Adam Richard Pearson, a 29-year-old Canadian national residing unlawfully in Minnesota.
All three defendants face charges of conspiracy, and Pearson is specifically accused of possessing a firearm unlawfully.
Presently, both Pearson along with Ryan are held in custody in Canada on unrelated charges, while Zindashti remains in Iran.
The Justice Department has initiated legal proceedings against multiple individuals worldwide, including those from Iran, who are alleged to have targeted dissidents residing within the United States.
Justice Department Exposes Plot to Kill Iranian Journalist
In January 2023, the Justice Department accused three men of plotting to assassinate an Iranian journalist living in the US for her outspoken criticism of Iran’s regime.
The men, from the US, Iran and the Czech Republic, were charged with murder-for-hire in an indictment unsealed in federal court in New York.
In a CBS News “60 Minutes” interview last year, John Bolton, the former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, disclosed that he continues to be under the protection of the Secret Service due to a conspiracy orchestrated by Iran’s intelligence service with the intent to assassinate him.
In November, legal charges were brought against an Indian national implicated in an alleged conspiracy to murder a Sikh political activist residing in the United States, purportedly at the direction of an individual associated with the Indian government.
Nikhil Gupta, apprehended in Europe during the summer, is currently undergoing the extradition process in the Czech Republic.