Who is Nika Nikoubin? Las Vegas woman stabs date to 'avenge' Qasem Soleimani's death
HENDERSON, NEVADA: A woman was arrested by Las Vegas police for allegedly stabbing her date she met online in retaliation for the 2020 death of an Iranian military leader, Qasem Soleimani, killed in an American drone strike. Nika Nikoubin, 21, was charged by Henderson Police Department with attempted murder, battery with a deadly weapon and burglary. She is being held on $60,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court on March 24.
Nikoubin has been accused of luring the victim, who has not been named, she met on the dating site Plenty of Fish in bed and subsequently attacking him with a knife. On March 5, Nikoubin and her date rented out a room together at the Sunset Station Hotel where. Once in the room, Nikoubin turned the lights off and the two began having sex. She suggested that she could blindfold him and after covering his eyes, she took a knife out and stabbed him twice in the neck.
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Who is Nika Nikoubin?
The suspect's Facebook profile suggests that she is a Las Vegas resident that previously worked as a front desk associate at Cycle Bar. She attended the University of California, Los Angeles, and was part of the university's debate team. A post by UCLA's debate team in 2020 said Nikoubin was a third-year student and that was her first year as a JV coach.
After the attack, the victim, who said he "felt a pain on the side of his neck", managed to push Nikoubin aside and call 911. Nikoubin reportedly approached a hotel employee and confessed that she had just stabbed a man. She later told police that she attacked him because she "wanted revenge" but did not wish to kill him. As per a police complaint, Nikoubin said that she wanted "revenge against US troops for the 2020 killing of Qasem Solemani", but it is unclear why she carried out the attack on his particular man. "She advised that there are injustices, in particular the killing of Qasem Soleimani in Iran," the police report said.
Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian major general, was assassinated by the United States via a drone strike at Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020. Soleimani was killed while he was on his way to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi in Baghdad. Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, was considered the second most powerful person of Iran, subordinate to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Five Iraqi nationals and four other Iranian nationals were also killed during Soleimani's assassination, including the deputy chairman of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and commander of the Iran-backed Kata'ib Hezbollah militia, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The incident took place during the 2019–2022 Persian Gulf crisis.