Trial begins over alleged Iran-backed plot to kill activist on US soil

Mohsen Rafiqdoost, a former bodyguard of the Islamic Republic's founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and an architect of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), made the comments in a recently surfaced video interview.

A bank account in Frankfurt was used to channel money for covert operations abroad, Rafiqdoost said, including for the killing of a former Iranian military commander General Gholam-Ali Oveisi in Paris in 1984.

“We had an account under the name KM,” he said in the video published Monday by Abdollah Abdi, the editor of independent outlet Abdi Media. “The money in that account was used for actions outside the country that could not be done with ordinary funds.”

He also linked the account to proceeds from arms sales during the Iran-Iraq war, recalling how a weapons purchase in Spain left a surplus of $10,000. “That was the beginning of moving funds into that account,” he said.

Rafiqdoost’s statements follow remarks he made on Saturday to the Iranian site Didban Iran, where he said he oversaw multiple assassination operations targeting dissidents. He named several figures killed in Europe, including Shapour Bakhtiar, the last prime minister under the Shah, and Fereydoun Farrokhzad, a singer and outspoken critic of the Islamic Republic.

“The Basque separatist group in Spain carried out these assassinations for us. We paid them, and they conducted the killings on our behalf,” he said.

Rafiqdoost's office disavowed the interviews, chalking the reported comments up to mental deficiencies after surgery and media distortions.

"Mr. Rafiqdoost underwent brain surgery in past years, which resulted in extensive complications and may have affected his recollection of certain memories and names. Therefore, his statements are not legally or historically reliable," it said in a statement.

"Media judgments regarding his statements are inaccurate. Only the official narrative of the events in question can be considered valid."

Khomeini critic silenced

US-based former Iranian ambassador to Germany Hossein Mousavian expressed surprise at the remarks, saying in a post on X that he had believed for decades that Farrokhzad’s killing was the work of Iranian opposition groups.

“After 32 years, for the first time, I learned the facts of the case from Mr. Rafiqdoust’s interview,” added Mousavian, now at Princeton University, New Jersey.

Farrokhzad was murdered in 1992 in Bonn, Germany. At the time, Iranian officials denied involvement, while reports suggested a professional-style hit.

German police found Farrokhzad's body in the kitchen of his apartment. A switchblade had been driven into his right shoulder from behind, and a longer kitchen knife was lodged in his mouth.

In exile, Farrokhzad had become a fierce and outspoken critic of Iran's clerical rulers. He repeatedly mocked Khomeini, portraying him as an illiterate, superstitious figure with sexual fixations in his writings.

Farrokhzad’s murder is often considered part of the so-called Chain Murders in Iran—an series of assassinations that saw numerous dissident intellectuals and activists either disappear or be killed between 1986 and 1998.

The Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Intelligence later admitted responsibility for some of the killings.

Mousavian said the Iranian embassy had even facilitated talks for Farrokhzad’s possible return to Iran.

“My colleagues and I at the embassy worked diligently for several months with full capacity, sincerity, and conviction to obtain the approval of the relevant Iranian authorities for his return and security,” he wrote.

Human rights organizations have long accused Tehran of orchestrating assassinations abroad. In a report published in December, the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center detailed four decades of extrajudicial killings tied to the Islamic Republic.

In an interview with Russian daily Izvestia, Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said that the JCPOA is irreplaceable and will serve as the starting point for new talks, warning that the current impasse risks uncontrolled escalation.

“The JCPOA is still in a half-disassembled state,” he said but noted that “the JCPOA will remain the starting point for new negotiations.”

Ulyanov added, "The current uncertain situation with the JCPOA is fraught with the risk of uncontrolled escalation. Therefore, we see the best way forward in the return of the main players to the negotiation table."

Ulyanov dismissed concerns over the recent increase in Iran's highly enriched uranium reserves, saying, "Such an increase in stockpiles is not critical, since production remains under the effective control of the agency [IAEA]."

He also acknowledged IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi's concerns, having called the JCPOA an "empty shell", but cautioned against making categorical judgments regarding the effectiveness of the agreement.

"There is nothing to replace it at the moment," Ulyanov said regarding the JCPOA. "Therefore, it is likely that we will now talk about some kind of modified agreement if the interested parties come to a consensus on the need to develop one."

He argued that the real threat to nuclear non-proliferation lies in "the inability of the main parties involved to find a common language and move from megaphone diplomacy to genuine diplomacy."

The JCPOA, signed by Iran, Russia, the United States, Britain, France, China, and Germany, aimed to lift sanctions on Iran in exchange for limitations on its nuclear program. However, the US withdrew from the deal in 2018, reimposing sanctions and prompting Iran to scale back its commitments.

Additionally, Ulyanov criticized Western nations for undermining progress, specifically citing a November 2024 anti-Iranian resolution at the IAEA Board of Governors, which he said largely undermined previous agreements.

The directive requires the government to facilitate the addition of 40 new representatives from densely populated regions to the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis or Majles).

The plan, approved by the parliament last month and ratified by the Guardian Council, aims to address significant demographic shifts that have occurred since the last adjustment to the parliament composition in 1999.

The changes have resulted in an unequal distribution of representation, with some sparsely populated districts having the same number of representatives as significantly larger ones.

Article 64 of the constitution stipulates that 20 representatives should be added to the parliament every 10 years. However, no adjustments have been made since 1999, despite four previous attempts to increase the number of seats, which were blocked by government opposition.

Unnamed experts cited by Fars news agency argue the current seat distribution is severely imbalanced, pointing to districts with 30,000 residents having equal representation to those with millions. For example, Alborz province, with 4.2 million residents, has only three representatives.

Supporters of the plan believe its implementation will strengthen the parliament and rectify social injustices caused by the current disparities in representation.

Asked by a reporter whether Moscow was influencing Tehran's response to the letter from Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "Iran is a sovereign country and independently formulates its position on key foreign policy issues."

"It is clear that Iran is seeking negotiations based on mutual respect, constructive negotiations."

Trump on Friday said that he had sent a letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, offering negotiations while warning of military consequences if talks over its nuclear program failed.

A day after Trump publicly revealed his letter, Khamenei made a speech in which he made no mention of the letter but declared that the Islamic Republic would not negotiate with "bullying" powers. Iranian media and observers interpreted this as a rejection of Trump's overture.

Last week, Moscow offered to mediate in talks between its ally Iran and the United States on the various disagreements between the old foes, including Tehran's nuclear program and military activities in the region.

"We, of course, for our part, will continue to do everything that depends on us, everything that is possible, in order to bring this process of settling the Iranian nuclear dossier into a peaceful direction," Peskov added.

On Monday Iran’s foreign ministry reiterated its denials, claiming that Tehran had not received a letter from Trump.

Acknowledging the fragility of the situation as pressure on Tehran ramps up, Peskov said, "It is clear that very tense contacts are ahead."

The decision affects approximately 5,200 contracts globally, with the remaining 18% set to be transferred to the State Department.

"After a six-week review, we are officially canceling 83% of the programs at USAID," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X.

"The 5,200 contracts that are now canceled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, and in some cases even harmed, the core national interests of the United States."

Trump signed an executive order on January 20, his first day in office, suspending foreign development assistance for 90 days to allow for a review of its efficiency and alignment with his America First policy stance.

Over the years, in addition to direct aid provided in the likes of the 2002 earthquake disaster, USAID has been a donor to Iranians in the diaspora to strengthen freedom of speech and free flow of information.

Rubio did not specify whether Iran-related programs were included in the cuts but among USAID's grantees are Persian media outlets that publish uncensored news for Iranian citizens, as well as human rights organizations that document abuses in Iran, instrumental in keeping the Islamic Republic accountable.

A part of the US funds also covers the expenses of Virtual Private Network (VPN) services which ordinary Iranians used to circumvent the Islamic Republic’s censorship.

Official government figures show Washington is the world's biggest donor of international aid, spending $39 billion in the 2024 fiscal year, out of which $65 million was allocated to funding State Department-administered Near East Regional Democracy (NERD).

The body is the main foreign assistance channel through which the United States has supported civil society and human rights in Iran since 2009, according to the Congressional Research Service.