Alleged organizer of plot to assassinate Iranian American journalist extradited to U.S.

NEW YORK — The leader of an Eastern European organized crime gang accused in the failed murder-for-hire plot of Iranian dissident journalist Masih Alinejad has been extradited to the U.S. to face justice, federal officials said Wednesday.

Polad Omarov’s arrest means all three suspects accused of participating in the July 2022 attempt on Alinejad’s life at her Flatbush, Brooklyn, home are now in federal custody.

Omarov was located and arrested in the Czech Republic in January 2023 and extradited Wednesday from Prague to the U.S. to await his presentment in Manhattan federal court.