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An Iranian national has pleaded guilty to charges linked to a ransomware campaign that targeted multiple US cities, including a 2019 cyberattack that crippled services in Baltimore, Maryland, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Tuesday.
Sina Gholinejad, 37, admitted to one count of computer fraud and abuse and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for August.
According to court documents, Gholinejad and co-conspirators used the Robbinhood ransomware to breach and encrypt files on the networks of municipalities, health care providers, and nonprofit organizations across the United States between January 2019 and March 2024.
Victims included the cities of Greenville, Gresham, Yonkers, and Baltimore, which alone incurred more than $19 million in damages and lost services.
The attacks rendered city systems offline for months, disrupting essential functions such as water billing, property tax collection, and parking enforcement. Prosecutors said the group demanded Bitcoin payments in exchange for decryption keys and sometimes threatened to publish stolen data.
No state affiliation of the case has been made by the DOJ, but US authorities have previously warned of cyber threats from Iranian state-linked groups. Iran has denied targeting US entities with cyberattacks.
Gholinejad was arrested on January 10, 2025, at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
The FBI led the investigation, with assistance from Bulgarian authorities.
The Trump administration’s efforts to revive nuclear negotiations with Iran are faltering, as Tehran prolongs talks in hopes of concessions, according to a Wall Street Journal opinion piece published Tuesday.
The article, authored by foreign policy analysts Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh, argues that Iranian leaders no longer fear President Donald Trump’s unpredictability, citing what they describe as a lack of clear US negotiating positions and diminished appetite for military confrontation.
The authors warn that Iran’s expanding nuclear infrastructure and deepening ties with China reduce the effectiveness of US sanctions, once considered the cornerstone of Washington’s “maximum pressure” strategy.
“Tehran’s diplomatic maneuvering is incessant,” the article said, adding that US reluctance to support Israeli military options could embolden Iran’s leadership. “With America retrenching globally, friend and foe alike will want the security of a bomb.”
Iran executed a man convicted of espionage for Israel, judiciary-affiliated news agency Mizan reported on Wednesday, prompting fresh condemnation from several human rights advocates.
Pedram Madani was sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court on charges of “corruption on earth” over allegations he provided intelligence to Israel as well as "Moharebeh" (waging war against God).
Madani, a political prisoner in his 40s, was arrested in 2019 and had been held in Tehran’s Evin Prison before being transferred to Ghezelhesar Prison days before the execution.
Iran Human Rights (IHR), a Norway-based NGO, said Madani’s death sentence had been overturned by the Supreme Court on three occasions, but the case was reassigned to other branches that reinstated the verdict.
“These are death sentences without due process,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. “They amount to extrajudicial killings.”
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nargess Mohammadi had called the case “a blatant act of injustice,” saying Madani was denied access to an independent lawyer and coerced into confessing under pressure and prolonged solitary confinement.
Iran's judiciary has not responded to the allegations of procedural irregularities. Authorities have previously defended such cases as necessary for national security, especially amid rising tensions with Israel and reports of sabotage and assassinations inside Iran.
Activists and former detainees described a growing trend of accelerated capital punishment. Mehdi Mahmoudian, a civil activist detained in Evin, said Madani was misled with promises of clemency. “He is the third prisoner in a month to be removed from Ward 4 for execution,” he wrote on social media.
Last month, Iran executed Mohsen Langarneshin, a cyber expert also convicted of aiding Israel. His case, too, drew international criticism after a leaked recording raised questions about the legitimacy of his confession.
At least 113 executions have been recorded in the first 25 days of 2025, IHR reported.
Iran accounted for 64% of all known global executions in 2024, with at least 972 people executed, according to Amnesty International.
Iran has consistently rejected criticism of its judicial system, saying that its courts operate independently and in accordance with Islamic law. However, rights groups and the United Nations have repeatedly called on Tehran to halt executions and ensure fair trials.
Iran Human Rights' 2024 annual report on the death penalty in Iran said that forced confessions, especially those aired live on television, have become "a propaganda tool aimed at creating fear and justifying the heavy sentences handed down to its political opponents and activists".
Iran's security forces have escalated efforts to suppress the nationwide truck drivers' strike through arrests, summonses, and intimidation, particularly in the southern city of Sirjan, as the strike stretches into its sixth day.
Sources told Iran International that intelligence and security agencies have begun directly contacting and summoning truck drivers in Sirjan, Kerman province, with several reportedly detained in an attempt to break the strike.
On Tuesday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Kerman province said in a statement that it had dismantled what it called an “organized anti-security network” operating across several provinces.
The statement did not specify the network’s alleged activities or any link to the truckers' strike.
Iran's Truckers and Heavy Vehicle Drivers Union released a statement marking the sixth day of the strike, confirming that 11 drivers and truck owners had been detained in Kermanshah, western Iran.
The union called for their immediate and unconditional release, saying, “Repression, arrest, and threats are not a response to legitimate demands — they are a sign of desperation in the face of our growing call for justice.”
In response to the arrests, hundreds of drivers in Kermanshah staged a protest in front of the provincial governor’s office, denouncing what they described as unjust treatment and expressing solidarity with their detained colleagues.
Launched on May 22 in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, the coordinated protest has since spread widely across the country, with truckers pledging to hold out for a full week or longer if their demands remain unmet.
Drivers are demanding better working conditions, higher freight rates, and relief from high insurance costs and fuel restrictions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has warned that negotiations with the three European powers over the country’s nuclear program could collapse if the United Kingdom maintains a stance of "zero enrichment" inside Iran.
"Iran has maintained multilateral engagement with the UK and other European JCPOA participants in good faith, even as the US continues to show no interest in getting them involved in the ongoing negotiation process," Araghchi said on X.
"If the UK position is 'zero enrichment' in Iran—in violation of the NPT and UK commitments as a remaining JCPOA participant —there is nothing left for us to discuss on the nuclear issue."
