Overview
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.
Associated Groups
- Extremist entity
- ISIS
- Read Threat Report
- 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.
History
Daily Dose
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
Fact:
On October 7, 2023, Hamas invaded southern Israel where, in the space of eight hours, hundreds of armed terrorists perpetrated mass crimes of brutality, rape, and torture against men, women and children. In the biggest attack on Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust, 1,200 were killed, and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza—where 101 remain. One year on, antisemitic incidents have increased by record numbers.