Iranian Drug Dealer Hired Hells Angels for US Assassination: Court Docs – By Mack Lamoureux (VICE) / Jan 31, 2024
Naji Sharifi Zindashti, allegedly on behalf of Iranian intelligence services, tried to hire Canadians Damion Ryan and Adam Pearson, to kill two people.
Iranian intelligence services attempted to hire a Canadian Hells Angels member to assassinate dissidents in the U.S., American officials allege.
Naji Sharifi Zindashti, 49, Damion Ryan, 43, and Adam Pearson, 29, have all been charged with conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.
In newly unsealed court documents, police alleged that Zindashti, who resides in Iran, is a drug dealer who “targets Iranian dissidents and opposition activists for kidnapping and assassination at the direction of the Iranian regime.” In a separate action on Tuesday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions against Zindashti and several of his associates.
The charges and designations come as tensions between Iran and the United States are ramping up. Three American soldiers were killed in Jordan on Sunday by an Iranian-backed militia, U.S. officials say.
