Reza Niknejad

Reza Niknejad is an American citizen and alleged foreign fighter with ISIS in Syria. Niknejad allegedly traveled to Syria in January 2015 with the help of his now-convicted high school friend Ali Shukri Amin. Amin hosted a popular pro-ISIS Twitter account under the handle @AmreekiWitness (now suspended).Matt Zapotosky, “Va. teen admits he was secret voice behind a pro-ISIS Twitter account,” Washington Post, June 11, 2015, http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/northern-va-teen-admits-running-pro-islamic-state-twitter-and-helping-man-join-terrorist-group/2015/06/11/1d0cb33e-0eef-11e5-9726-49d6fa26a8c6_story.html.

Amin allegedly accompanied Niknejad to the airport and put him in contact with unnamed ISIS militants with whom he had formed connections over social media.Matt Zapotosky, “Va. teen admits he was secret voice behind a pro-ISIS Twitter account,” Washington Post, June 11, 2015, http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/northern-va-teen-admits-running-pro-islamic-state-twitter-and-helping-man-join-terrorist-group/2015/06/11/1d0cb33e-0eef-11e5-9726-49d6fa26a8c6_story.html. Soon after, Amin reportedly delivered a letter written by Niknejad to his family, in which Niknejad wrote that he had traveled to Saudi Arabia to study Islam.Matt Zapotosky, “Va. teen admits he was secret voice behind a pro-ISIS Twitter account,” Washington Post, June 11, 2015, http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/northern-va-teen-admits-running-pro-islamic-state-twitter-and-helping-man-join-terrorist-group/2015/06/11/1d0cb33e-0eef-11e5-9726-49d6fa26a8c6_story.html.

A Virginia court charged Niknejad in absentia on June 10, 2015, for conspiring to provide material support to ISIS, conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and conspiring to kill or injure individuals in a foreign country.Matt Zapotosky, “Va. teen admits he was secret voice behind a pro-ISIS Twitter account,” Washington Post, June 11, 2015, http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/northern-va-teen-admits-running-pro-islamic-state-twitter-and-helping-man-join-terrorist-group/2015/06/11/1d0cb33e-0eef-11e5-9726-49d6fa26a8c6_story.html.

Extremist entity
ISIS
Type(s) of Organization:
Insurgent, territory-controlling, religious, terrorist, violent
Ideologies and Affiliations:
Islamist, jihadist, pan-Islamist, Salafist, takfiri
Position(s):
Foreign Fighter

ISIS is a violent jihadist group based in Iraq and Syria. The group has declared wilayas (provinces) in Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the North Caucasus. ISIS has also waged attacks in Turkey, Lebanon, France, Belgium, Iraq, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tunisia, and Kuwait.

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Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.

In Their Own Words:

We reiterate once again that the brigades will directly target US bases across the region in case the US enemy commits a folly and decides to strike our resistance fighters and their camps [in Iraq].

Abu Ali al-Askari, Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH) Security Official Mar. 2023
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