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US Justice Department accuses Hells Angels of colluding with Iranian intelligence

According to court documents, an Iranian national used the secure messenger SkyECC to recruit people to come to the US and assassinate Iranians fleeing to the United States

WASHINGTON, January 30. /TASS/. The US Department of Justice has accused members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club of collaborating with Iranian intelligence services to harass, kidnap and kill dissidents and opposition activists who fled to the United States, according to a press release issued by the department.

According to the agency's statement, Iranian national Naji Sharifi Zindashti conspired with two Canadian nationals, members of the motorcycle club, to eliminate two Maryland residents between December 2020 and March 2021.

"To those in Iran who plot murders on US soil and the criminal actors who work with them, let today’s charges send a clear message: the Department of Justice will pursue you as long as it takes — and wherever you are — and deliver justice," Assistant Attorney General, and the Justice Department’s top national security official Matthew Olsen said.

"Today’s charges show a pattern of Iranian groups trying to murder US residents on US soil," Assistant Director Suzanne Turner of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division said.

"Mr. Zindashti and his accomplices’ alleged plot is reprehensible, and the FBI will not tolerate such acts against US residents, and we will continue to pursue these individuals until they are brought to the US to face justice," she emphasized.

According to court documents, an Iranian national used the secure messenger SkyECC to recruit people to come to the US and assassinate Iranians fleeing to the United States.

Hells Angels is one of the world's largest motorcycle clubs and has affiliates around the globe. Law enforcement agencies in several countries call the club a "motorcycle gang" and accuse it of drug trafficking, racketeering, dealing in stolen goods, violence, and murder.

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