Woman Allegedly Stabbed Date To Avenge Iranian Leader Killed In 2020 American Strike

A woman is in custody after allegedly stabbing a man she met on a dating app to avenge the death of a prominent Iranian military general.

Nika Nikoubin, 21, was arrested after allegedly attacking a man at the Sunset Station Hotel in Las Vegas on March 5, according to an arrest report obtained by CBS affiliate 8 News Now. Authorities with the Henderson Police Department said that Nikoubin knifed the male victim, who was not named, in revenge for the death of an Iranian military leader, Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by an American airstrike in 2020.

Nikoubin was arrested on March 10 and is facing charges of attempted murder, burglary and two counts of battery with a deadly weapon, according to arrest records.

Police say Nikoubin met the victim on the dating website “Plenty Of Fish” and arranged to rent a hotel room on the date of the incident. Nikoubin and the man became engaged in sexual activity when the she allegedly blindfolded the man and turned out the lights. Moments later, the victim claimed he “felt a pain on the side of his neck.”

The victim was able to escape the attack and flee to safety before calling 911 at around 10:30 p.m., according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Police said that Nikoubin also exited the 14th-floor room and told hotel personnel that she’d just stabbed a man.

Police said the motive behind the surprise attack was “revenge against U.S. troops for the killing of Qasem Soleimani,” according to News Now.

Police did not confirm whether the victim was a member of the U.S. military.

“She advised there were injustices, in particular, the killing of Qasem Soleimani in Iran,” Homeland Security investigators told the Review-Journal. “Nikoubin stated she wanted revenge.”

Soleimani was a high-ranking military commander revered as a revolutionary hero in Iran, according to CNN. One of the most powerful men in the Islamic Republic, he was at the helm of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, a covert and elite military group blamed for several overseas attacks against the U.S., including the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and the killing of hundreds of U.S. and French military members in their barracks, according to NBC News.

The Department of Defense announced on Jan. 2, 2020 that Soleimani had been killed in an airstrike near the Baghdad International Airport, according to CNN. Then-U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the action in what he said was an attempt to deter future attacks by the Quds Force, which the U.S. called a designated terrorist organization.

Soleimani’s death prompted Iranian leaders, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to vow revenge.

“Harsh retaliation is waiting for the criminals whose filthy hands spilled his blood,” Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, said at the time.

Officials did not say whether Nikoubin was of Iranian descent. According to News Now, prosecutors did say that Nikoubin had no ties to Las Vegas .

Jail records show she is being held at the Clark County Detention Center on $60,000 bail. She is scheduled to appear in court on March 26.