The idea to kill Ms. Alinejad in Brooklyn originated soon after the kidnapping plot fell apart, according to prosecutors, and was initiated by a network in Iran led by Ruhollah Bazghandi, a brigadier general in the Revolutionary Guards. He and three other Iranian men who are not in U.S. custody have been charged in Manhattan with murder for hire.
Members of the Bazghandi network turned to Mr. Amirov, a citizen of Azerbaijan and Russia who was then living in Iran, an indictment said, and he in turn contacted Mr. Omarov, a Georgian living in Eastern Europe. They provided $30,000 to Mr. Mehdiyev, according to an indictment, and he bought the assault rifle and began staking out Ms. Alinejad’s home.
His surveillance lasted about a week, an indictment said, with Mr. Mehdiyev telling Mr. Omarov at one point that he was “at the crime scene.” The two men exchanged ideas about how to draw Ms. Alinejad to her door, the indictment said, and Mr. Mehdiyev sent a video showing the assault rifle to Mr. Omarov, along with the message: “We are ready.”
On that day, it seems, Ms. Alinejad was more prepared than the man sent to kill her.
According to an affidavit by an F.B.I. agent, Mr. Mehdiyev lingered outside Ms. Alinejad’s home for hours, at one point ordering food to be delivered to his vehicle, and tried to open Ms. Alinejad’s front door. She slipped from the premises, apparently without encountering Mr. Mehdiyev. He drove away about 15 minutes later and was observed by police officers who had arrived after Ms. Alinejad reported suspicious activity to the F.B.I.
While being watched, Mr. Mehdiyev drove through a stop sign, the agent wrote. That infraction provided a reason for the police to pull him over and discover that his driver’s license was suspended. Mr. Mehdiyev was arrested and a search of his vehicle turned up the rifle. Soon after that, he was charged with possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.