Man Carrying Loaded AK-47 Arrested Near NYC Home of Iranian Dissident Masih Alinejad’s

Masih Alinejad

NYPD said they arrested a Yonkers man with a loaded AK-47 near the Brooklyn home of outspoken Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad.

Federal prosecutors and FBI agents said the suspect, Khalid Mehdiyev, also had 66 rounds of ammo in the car when he was arrested Thursday.

Alinejad is a well-known Iranian writer and dissident who last year was the alleged target of a kidnapping plot by Iranian agents, the FBI said. Iran has denied wrongdoing, calling the past kidnapping allegations “baseless.”

The FBI and NYPD are now looking into why Mehdiyev, 23, was seen near her home last week over a period of several hours. Investigators said he had been seen walking around Alinejad's property and looking into her windows. She was not home at the time.

According to a complaint filed late Friday by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, Mehdiyev allegedly admitted the assault weapon was his and then asked for a lawyer, after first claiming he had traveled from Yonkers to Brooklyn in search of an apartment. 

Cash was also found inside the Subaru that had Illinois plates. 

Mehdiyev was pulled over around 3 p.m. by the NYPD at the corner of Dorchester Road and Rugby Road after going through a stop sign, an NYPD spokesman said. The traffic stop, the complaint said, came after investigators observed the Yonkers man in the Brooklyn neighborhood a couple of times.

He was allegedly driving with a suspended license and police said they later found a loaded AK-47 in the back seat. Prosecutors said serial numbers on the weapon had been defaced.

Mehdiyev is charged with a federal weapons count. The FBI and NYPD are also looking into whether he was surveilling Alinejad’s home and, if so, they want to know why and whether he was acting alone.

In July 2021, the FBI said it had uncovered an Iranian kidnapping plot to target Alinejad - allegedly to take her from her home, transport her to South America and then fly her back to Iran. Alinajed was moved to safe houses during the investigation for her protection, officials said at the time.

Alinejad has a huge following on social media given her outspoken criticism of the Iranian regime - especially on the issue of women’s rights.

An FBI spokeswoman confirmed Mehdiyev’s arrest but referred questions to an SDNY spokesman, who late Saturday offered no additional comment beyond the details included in the criminal complaint.

Alinejad did not immediately return a request for comment.

Last year she said she has been "targeted for a number of years, but this is the first time that such an audacious plot has been hatched and foiled."

Attempts to reach Mehdiyev’s attorney were not immediately successful.