Two men have been arrested and charged over the "targeted" murder of an activist who spoke out against the Iranian regime.
The victim, Masood Masjoody, a 45-year-old resident of Burnaby, British Columbia, was found dead earlier this month in Mission, B.C., after being reported missing on Feb. 2 by concerned neighbors, according to a statement from Canada's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.
Investigators have not announced the arrests of 48-year-old Mehdi Ahmadzadeh Razavi and 45-year-old Arezou Soltani, according to multiple news reports. The two men are each facing one count of first-degree murder.
Razavi, Soltani Previously Argued with Masjoody on Social Media
Freda Fong, a spokesperson for the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, told reporters the two men knew Masjoody and had previously argued with him on social media, as reported by The New York Times.
"While the motive is still under investigation, we can say the victim and the two accused were known to each other and that this was a targeted incident," Fong said. Investigators said the two men do not have prior criminal convictions in Canada. They're expected to appear in court Monday.
Masjoody was an Outspoken Critic of the Iranian Regime
Masjoody was known for his "online presence" and work as a mathematician, investigators said in a statement last month. The activist was an outspoken critic of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and reportedly affiliated with the Iran Front for the Revival of Law and National Sovereignty, an organization that advocates against the Iranian regime.
Masjoody "ultimately became a victim of the very phenomenon about which he consistently warned: lawlessness, political violence, and a totalitarian mindset that resorts to intimidation and elimination instead of accountability before the law," the group said in a statement Sunday.
The group alleges that his death is part of a premeditated "circle killing" that is "carried out within dangerous networks, the very networks about which Dr. Masjoody repeatedly warned during his lifetime."
"From this perspective, the legal and judicial responsibility for this criminal act cannot be limited solely to the direct perpetrators, but may also extend to instigators, organizers, and others who played a role in the development of this process," the group added.
The group has urged for a broader investigation into "defamation, intimidation and elimination aimed at silencing dissenting voices by any possible means."
Assassination Attempt on Masih Alinejad by Iranian Regime
News of Masjoody's death comes less than two months after Brooklyn resident Carlisle Rivera was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in a plot to kill Masih Alinejad, an Iranian American journalist and human rights activist, who has also been very vocal about her criticism of the Iranian regime.
Rivera was arrested in November 2024, before he could carry out the "murder-for-hire" plot, which was "directed by the Government of Iran," the Justice Department said in a statement.
