‘I Was There to Try to Kill the Journalist’: Pizza Shop Hitman Admits Botched Plot to Murder Iranian Dissident in Brooklyn

‘I Was There to Try to Kill the Journalist’: Pizza Shop Hitman Admits Botched Plot to Murder Iranian Dissident in Brooklyn

Edited by: Fern Sidman

In a case that increasingly reads like a dark farce, a trial unfolding in Manhattan federal court took an almost surreal turn this week when a confessed hitman, expected to be a globe-trotting agent of international intrigue, instead revealed that he was juggling a murder-for-hire plot while working shifts at a local pizza parlor. According to a report that appeared on Thursday in The New York Post, Khalid Mehdiyev, 27, admitted under oath that he was more “pizza shop employee” than “professional killer” — a revelation that may help explain the series of amateurish blunders he made during a failed attempt to assassinate prominent Iranian-American journalist and regime critic Masih Alinejad in Brooklyn back in 2022.

The admission landed like a bombshell during the third day of proceedings against Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, two Azerbaijani nationals accused of orchestrating the plot on behalf of a transnational gang allegedly aligned with the Iranian government. Both men are currently facing federal charges of murder-for-hire and attempted murder in aid of racketeering — charges that prosecutors argue stem from a conspiracy to silence Alinejad, who has long been targeted by the Islamic Republic for her outspoken dissidence since fleeing Iran in 2009.

As reported by The NYP, the courtroom was left in disbelief when Mehdiyev casually confirmed under cross-examination that he had, in fact, been working at a pizza shop while purportedly serving as the operational arm of an international assassination scheme.

“As you’re coordinating an international kidnapping, you’re also working at a pizza shop?” defense attorney Elena Fast, representing one of the accused ringleaders, asked incredulously.

“That’s correct,” Mehdiyev replied — a dry, almost comic answer that underscored the incongruity of his dual roles.

The NYP reported that Fast, pressing further, asked the self-professed Russian mob associate whether he had also worked as an Uber driver in 2020. Mehdiyev, now a convicted felon, feigned a lapse in memory, claiming he couldn’t recall.

“Amnesia as we sit here today?” Fast challenged.

“No, miss,” Mehdiyev responded, only to continue insisting he simply didn’t remember, citing the mental fog from years behind bars.

“Just a long time I’ve been in jail, some things I don’t remember,” he added.

Fast then confronted him with more specific details: “You don’t remember driving 922 miles for Uber in 2020? Is that your testimony today?”

“Yes, miss,” he replied without hesitation.

“I was trying to get the easy way to kill her,” Mehdiyev admitted from the witness stand, in a moment of brutal candor that stunned the courtroom.

But there was nothing easy about the failed assassination attempt — a plot that unraveled due to Mehdiyev’s own series of glaring mistakes, ultimately leading to his arrest outside Alinejad’s Brooklyn home on July 28, 2022.

Mehdiyev’s subdued and evasive demeanor on Thursday stood in stark contrast to his more forthcoming testimony the day before, when he admitted to sending personal messages to Alinejad in a clumsy effort to infiltrate her life and gain her trust.

“I was trying to get into her life,” Mehdiyev had told the court, describing how he messaged her with comments like “U the best journalist” in an attempt to make contact. His testimony on Wednesday painted a bizarre picture of a would-be assassin trying to warm his way into a journalist’s world using fawning text messages instead of covert surveillance.

Described by The NYP as a “bearded bear of a man” from the Caspian Sea nation of Azerbaijan, Mehdiyev’s confession left observers questioning not just his competence, but the organizational strength behind the plot itself.

As The NYP has extensively reported, Mehdiyev’s attempt on Alinejad’s life is only the latest in a string of chilling efforts by operatives allegedly tied to the Iranian regime. The journalist, who has become one of Tehran’s most outspoken and visible critics in the diaspora, has been relentlessly hunted since her departure from Iran in 2009. Previous Iranian plots to abduct or eliminate her have been thwarted by U.S. authorities, but the persistent targeting underscores the regime’s intent to silence dissent — even on American soil.

Federal officials have accused Amirov and Omarov of being part of a broader network working on behalf of Tehran, using criminal gangs to outsource politically motivated violence abroad. Mehdiyev’s role, although ineptly executed, has become the focal point of this case — revealing a tangled web of international politics, hired guns, and unexpected pizza deliveries.

According to The NYP report, the botched hit reached its climax when Mehdiyev was spotted staking out Alinejad’s Flatbush residence, where he aroused suspicion by behaving in an increasingly erratic and conspicuous manner. Prosecutors outlined how he ordered food deliveries to his car while parked outside her home, tried to open her front door, and ultimately ran a stop sign — an error that triggered the police to pull him over and apprehend him in his Subaru Forester SUV with Illinois license plates.

When NYPD officers searched the vehicle, they discovered a chilling arsenal: a loaded AK-47 with a round in the chamber, a ski mask, and surveillance paraphernalia — all indicators of a deadly mission gone comically, yet dangerously, off script.

“I was there to try to kill the journalist,” Mehdiyev told the court, confirming his intent with unnerving simplicity, The NYP report said.  A resident of Yonkers, Mehdiyev had already pleaded guilty to attempted murder and gun possession charges, as well as unrelated racketeering charges. He is now cooperating with federal prosecutors, but faces a minimum of 15 years in prison for his role in the plot.

The target of the planned execution, Masih Alinejad, has long been a vocal thorn in the side of the Iranian regime. Known globally for her fearless advocacy for women’s rights and her relentless exposure of the Iranian government’s abuses, Alinejad has survived multiple attempts on her life. According to The NYP, this latest plot was financed directly by the Islamic Republic, with Rafat Amirov (45) and Polad Omarov (40) allegedly offered $500,000 for orchestrating the killing.

Prosecutors allege that Mehdiyev was the hired triggerman, paid $30,000 to carry out the murder. Though Mehdiyev ultimately failed to execute the plan, the gravity of the charges has not diminished. Amirov and Omarov, both Azerbaijani nationals, have pleaded not guilty to the charges, but face decades in prison if convicted of murder-for-hire and attempted murder in aid of racketeering.

Reacting to the developments, Alinejad took to social media with a heartfelt message of gratitude and defiance. Early Wednesday morning, she posted on X (formerly Twitter) a video showing her standing outside her Brooklyn home alongside NYPD officers, offering thanks to those who protected her from the assassin.

“I recorded this video just months after a man was arrested outside my Brooklyn home with a loaded gun,” she wrote, according to The NYP report. “Today, in a federal court, he admitted he was sent by the Islamic Republic to kill me for the ‘crime’ of speaking out.”

Alinejad continued: “Profoundly grateful to U.S. law enforcement for not only protecting my life but also standing up for free speech. Free speech should never be punishable by death.”

Her words echoed a sobering truth — that even in the United States, where freedom of expression is a constitutional guarantee, dissidents such as Alinejad live under the constant threat of state-sponsored violence from authoritarian regimes operating across borders.

This case is far more than just a bungled hit job. It exposes a sinister pattern: the Islamic Republic of Iran’s expanding strategy of outsourcing political assassinations, using criminal proxies to do its dirty work on foreign soil — including within the borders of the United States.

Mehdiyev’s courtroom confession — bizarre in its mundanity and terrifying in its implications — confirms that even poorly executed murder plots can pose serious threats when state power and transnational criminal networks align.