Two men accused of involvement in an Iranian government plan to assassinate a prominent Iranian-American journalist and human rights activist went on trial in New York on Monday.

The two defendants, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, are alleged to be members of an Eastern European crime syndicate with links to Iran.

Prosecutors charged them in January 2023 with conspiring to murder Masih Alinejad, a journalist, author, and contributor to Voice of America who fled Iran following the country’s contested 2009 presidential election.

Alinejad has confirmed she was the intended target, and is expected to testify during the trial about repeated threats she has faced from the Iranian government.