Woman stabbed her date in Vegas hotel room as "revenge" for U.S. killing Iranian military leader, police say
A woman stabbed her date, whom she had met online, in retaliation for the 2020 death of an Iranian military leader killed in an American drone strike, police said. Nika Nikoubin, 21, has been charged with attempted murder, battery with a deadly weapon and burglary, CBS Las Vegas affiliate KLAS-TV reported.
Nikoubin and the man met online on a dating website, Henderson police wrote in an arrest report. The pair then agreed to meet at Sunset Station hotel in Las Vegas on March 5, renting a room together.
While in the room, the pair began having sex when Nikoubin put a blindfold on the man, police said. Nikoubin then turned off the lights, and several minutes later, the man "felt a pain on the side of his neck," KLAS reported.
Nikoubin reportedly stabbed the man in the neck "for revenge against U.S. troops for the killing of Qassem Soleimani in 2020," police wrote in a report.
U.S. forces killed Soleimani, a top general in Iran's military, in a drone strike in January 2020. Soleimani headed the expeditionary Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. responsible for the Islamic Republic's foreign operations. The strike drew a vow of "crushing revenge" from Iran.
After the stabbing, the man pushed Nikoubin off of him and ran out of the room to call 911, police said.
Nikoubin also ran out of the room, telling a hotel employee that she had just stabbed a man, police said.
When talking to police, Nikoubin told an investigator "she wanted revenge," police said. She said she had listened to a song called "Grave Digger," which "gave her the motivation… to carry out her revenge."
The man's current condition was not available, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported.
Nikoubin is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing March 24, the newspaper said, It's not clear if she has a lawyer yet.
The U.S. Defense Department blamed Soleimani for the deaths of hundreds of Americans, and said he was behind recent attacks on coalition bases in Iraq, including one in December 2019 that killed an American defense contractor.