US charges IRGC officer with killing of American citizen in Iraq

US says Mohammad Reza Nouri orchestrated the killing of Stephen Troell in 2022 as revenge for Qassem Soleimani.

The United States has charged an alleged officer of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) with “terrorism and murder” over the killing of a US citizen in Iraq in 2022.

The Department of Justice released the charges on Friday, accusing Mohammad Reza Nouri of orchestrating the killing of Stephen Troell in Baghdad in retaliation for the US assassination of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani two years prior.

Troell worked at an English-language institute in Iraq, and at the time of his death, the US 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 US government has accused Nouri of monitoring Troell and providing weapons, vehicles and safe harbour 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 targeting and murdering Americans anywhere in the world,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

“Stephen should still be alive today, and the Justice Department will work relentlessly to ensure accountability for his murder.”

Last year, The Associated Press news agency reported that five people — four Iraqis and one Iranian — were sentenced to life in prison over the murder of Troell.

Officials did not publicly name the Iraqi suspects, but they did tell the news agency the Iranian defendant was identified as Mohammed Ali Ridha.

Friday’s charges against Nouri come amid regional tensions, as Washington piles on sanctions against Tehran and US officials warn Iran against advancing its nuclear programme.

President-elect Donald Trump, who ordered the killing of Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad in 2020, is expected to intensify US pressure against Iran when he takes office next month.

Over the past several years, Washington has accused Tehran of plots to kill dissidents and Americans around the world, including on US soil — accusations that Iran has largely denied.

Earlier this week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Iran should “focus on itself” and stop getting involved in “misadventures throughout the region” after the recent setbacks it has suffered, including the blows Israel has dealt to Hezbollah in Lebanon.