Four Iranian agents indicted in US for planning to kidnap journalist
Masih Alinejad is not named in the press release but she said she was the target of the kidnapping project that the United States claims to have foiled.
REUTERS - LISI NIESNER
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US justice announced Tuesday that it had indicted four Iranian intelligence agents for planning the kidnapping of Iranian-born American journalist and anti-veil activist in the United States, Masih Alinejad.
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Masih Alinejad is not named in the press release from the US Department of Justice, but she said she was the target of the kidnapping project that the United States claims to have foiled.
"
Thank you to the FBI for foiling the Iranian intelligence plan to kidnap me,
" she said on Twitter, filming herself in front of a window from which a police car can be seen.
The target under surveillance
In a statement, the US Department of Justice explains that four men had been seeking since "
June 2020
" to kidnap "
an author and journalist who highlighted human rights violations committed by the Iranian government
". They had planned "
to take their victim by force to Iran, where (his) fate would have been at best uncertain,
" said prosecutor Audrey Strauss. The suspects "
used the services of private investigators to monitor, photograph and film
" the victim and his relatives on several occasions between 2020 and 2021, according to the ministry.
Masih Alinejad is a feminist activist behind the anti-veiling movement in Iran, a country she has since left.
From the United States, where she has settled, she criticizes the Iranian regime and its policies.
Other victims targeted
This network also targeted other victims living in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, against whom they had tried to deploy the same means of surveillance, according to prosecutors.
A fifth Iranian residing in California, Niloufar Bahadorifar, is suspected of having participated in the financing of this project.
"
Everyone in the United States must be free from all harassment, threats and physical harm from foreign powers,
" said prosecutor Mark Lesko.
Iran is considered one of the most repressive countries for journalists according to the NGO Reporters Without Borders, which placed it in 174th place out of 180 in its global press freedom ranking in 2021.
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Iran
United States
Kidnappings