Two men sentenced to 25 years over Iran-backed plot to kill dissident

Prominent New York-based dissident and journalist Masih Alinejad holds a sunflower behind Polad Omarov and Radar Amirov, who were convicted of involvement in an unsuccessful Iran-backed plot to kill her, as they attend their sentencing at federal court in New York, U.S., October 29, 2025 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg

(Reuters) -Two men convicted of murder-for-hire charges were each sentenced in New York on Wednesday to 25 years in prison over what prosecutors called a failed Tehran-backed plot to kill an Iranian dissident living in the U.S.

Rafat Amirov, 46, and Polad Omarov, 41, appeared in prison garb before U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon in Manhattan.