US accuses IRGC officer of killing American citizen in Iraq | Crime News
The US says Mohammad Reza Nouri orchestrated the 2022 assassination of Stephen Troell as revenge for Qassem Soleimani.
The United States has charged a suspected officer in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) with “terrorism and murder” over the 2022 killing of a US citizen in Iraq.
The Justice Department released the indictment Friday, accusing Mohammad Reza Nouri of orchestrating the assassination of Stephen Troell in Baghdad in retaliation for the U.S. killing of Iran’s top general Qassem Soleimani two years earlier.
Troell worked at an English-language institute in Iraq, and at the time of his death, the U.S. Embassy said he was in the country in a “private capacity” working with the Iraqi people.
But according to the Justice Department, Nouri “appears to have believed” that Troell was working as an American or Israeli intelligence officer.
The U.S. government has accused Nouri of monitoring Troell and providing weapons, vehicles and safe haven to the gunmen who killed him.
Nouri remains in Iraq, where he was arrested and subsequently convicted for his role in the killing, the Justice Department said.
“The Department of Justice will not tolerate terrorists and authoritarian regimes attacking and murdering Americans anywhere in the world,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
“Stephen should be alive today, and the Justice Department will work tirelessly to ensure accountability for his murder.”
Last year, the Associated Press reported that five people – four Iraqis and one Iranian – were sentenced to life in prison for Troell’s killing.
Officials did not publicly name the Iraqi suspects, but told the news agency that the Iranian defendant was identified as Mohammed Ali Ridha.
Friday’s indictment of Nouri comes amid regional tensions as Washington imposes sanctions on Tehran and U.S. officials warned Iran against the further development of its nuclear program.
President-elect Donald Trumpwho ordered the killing of Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad in 2020, is expected to step up U.S. pressure against Iran when he takes office next month.
In recent years, Washington has accused Tehran of plots to assassinate dissidents and Americans around the world on US soil – allegations that Iran has largely rejected.
Earlier this week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Iran should “focus on itself” and stop engaging in “misadventures across the region” after recent setbacks it has suffered, including the strikes Israel gave to Hezbollah Lebanon.
