Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-born journalist and activist, who has American citizenship and lives in Brooklyn, New York, is accusing the Iranian government of targeting her and threatening her life.
The threats have been going on for a while, but on Thursday, a man was arrested in the journalist’s Brooklyn neighborhood, where she resides with her family, including stepchildren, and authorities are investigating whether the man was there as a part of plot to kidnap or harm Alinejad.
After speaking out against the Islamic republic, a kidnapping plot against the journalist was allegedly organized by an Iranian intelligence official. The Iranian government denies culpability.
In an interview on CNN, Alinejad said that she was being targeted by the Iranian government because she speaks up for oppressed people in Iran.
“I’m not scared (for) my life at all because I know what I’m doing. I have only one life, and I dedicated my life to give voice to Iranian people inside Iran who bravely go to the streets — face guns and bullets to protest against Iranian regime — but this is happening in America,” she said.
She spoke directly to the Iranian regime as she looked at the camera, “Go to hell. I’m not scared of you. I have only one life. You care about power. I care about my dignity and freedom like millions of other people inside Iran. I’m not scared of you. You can kill me, but you cannot kill the idea. The idea is just fighting for freedom, dignity.”
She urged President Biden to expel all Iranian diplomats. “Kick them out. If you don’t, believe me, they’re going to come after more American citizens,” she said.
NYC police officers detained a suspect, Khalid Mehdiyev, on Thursday in Brooklyn for driving with a suspended license. Upon a search of his car, they found a loaded AK-47 style assault rifle.
Officers say that Mehdiyev has been seen in Alinejad’s Brooklyn neighborhood on two occasions, and was acting suspiciously.
Mehdiyev told officers that he was in Brooklyn looking for an apartment, among other details trying to defend his behavior. He denied the rifle belong to him.
Upon further questioning, the suspect told agents “the AK-47 was his, and that he had been in Brooklyn because he was looking for someone,” before invoking his right to counsel, according to the complaint.
Alinejad shared a video on Twitter showing the man that federal agents told her was the man arrested by police on Thursday.
She says that in 2021, the FBI stopped a plot of the Islamic Republic to kidnap her. She states she’s been in ongoing communication with federal agents since the kidnapping attempt.
Reflecting on the evidence that the threat has not gone away, she told CNN, “My stepchildren live in the same house, and just imagine if the guy had opened fire. Who knows how many of my neighbors would’ve been killed? My beautiful and supportive neighbors,” she said.
“I really thought that the plot was over. I thought, ‘OK, I can focus on my job’ — which I am going to do. Nothing is going to stop me,” she said. “I see this as the continuation of trying to keep Iranian women down.”
People in Iran are threatened that if they commit anti-government offenses, or send videos to the journalist exposing human rights abuses, they can be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. The Iranian government forces women to denounce her, according to Alinejad.
The journalist’s brother has been imprisoned, and her sister and mother have been harassed and interrogated, in order to punish her.
“I don’t have any enemy. I’m not a criminal so, of course, this is the Iranian regime,” she told CNN. “When the US government does not take strong action, of course, they feel more powerful to continue this. I see this as a pattern, a continuation of oppressing women, oppressing dissidents outside Iran.”