New York (AFP)

An American journalist of Iranian origin said Wednesday she was "shocked" by the preparations of Tehran which, according to Washington, wanted to remove it on American soil, accusations considered "absurd" by the Islamic republic.

"It's amazing, I still can't believe that, here in New York, the Islamic Republic could have threatened me, followed me ... Me, an American-Iranian citizen, here on the soil of the United States of America, "Masih Alinejad said in an interview with CNN.

American justice announced Tuesday the indictment of four "Iranian intelligence agents", accused of having prepared the kidnapping of this 44-year-old journalist, author and feminist activist at the origin of the anti-veiling movement in Iran.

An Iranian woman living in California, for her part, was arrested and accused of having participated in the financing of the project which, according to the indictment, involved the placing under surveillance of the reporter and her relatives, photographed and filmed. without their knowledge from June 2020.

The network has, according to American justice, also appealed to private detectives - hiding their motives - to spy on dissidents installed in Canada, Great Britain and the United Arab Emirates.

Iran strongly rejected "absurd and baseless" accusations on Wednesday.

"This is not the first time that the United States has engaged in the creation of these Hollywood scenarios," said Iranian Foreign Affairs spokesman Saïd Khatibzadeh.

"The American authorities insult the intelligence of the world with this naive story", he added, quoted by the Isna agency.

- "Oppression" -

Masih Alinejad, who left Iran in 2009, explained on CNN that he received a visit from the federal police eight months ago who advised him to leave his New York home, but did not measure the extent of the plot.

"The details are shocking, I learned them yesterday", she said: "They were following me and wanted to put me on a boat bound for Venezuela!"

In the past, critical journalists and dissidents have already been arrested abroad, but also bi-nationals "used as bargaining chips" in international negotiations, she recalled.

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"What breaks my heart is that it has been going on for 40 years and that no Western government has taken any firm measures," she added, saying she was "disappointed" with the attitude of the government. US government of Joe Biden.

"I am waiting for him to act decisively," said the reporter.

"I want the Biden administration to be strong, rather than trying to make deals" with the Iranians.

The Democrat restarted talks with Tehran in April in an attempt to save the 2015 international Iran nuclear deal, from which his predecessor Donald Trump had withdrawn.

"I am not afraid of dying or being executed, what scares me is that the whole world remains silent in the face of such a regime and allows it to carry out such oppression in the United States", the reporter continued.

- "Chilling message" -

She received support from the press freedom association organization Pen America, which also lamented the "repeated failure of the international community to unequivocally respond to the growing arm. long authoritarian regimes ".

"This attempt to silence a critic thousands of kilometers from Iran is a chilling message for all defenders of freedom of expression," lamented one of its officials, Summer Lopez.

Iran is considered one of the most repressive countries for journalists, and exercises "relentless" control of information according to the NGO Reporters Without Borders, which placed it in 174th place out of 180 in its ranking freedom of the press in 2021.

"This crackdown on freedom of information is not limited to the interior of the country," said RSF, which estimates that since 1979 at least 860 journalists have been "arrested, detained or executed by the authorities" there.

© 2021 AFP