‘Iran regime is scared of me,’ says US author Masih Alinejad targeted in chilling kidnap plot
- Iran plotted to kidnap journalist from her Brooklyn home, US says
- Dual US-Iranian citizen Masih Alinejad speaks out about alleged plot
A Brooklyn author and Iranian dissident who was the apparent target of an Iranian kidnapping plot said she initially expressed disbelief when the FBI told her of the plan eight months ago.
“I jokingly responded that I am used to receiving death threats daily,” Masih Alinejad said in a video posted on Twitter.
She said she grew serious after FBI agents showed her videos and photos taken by the conspirators of her and her family. She appreciates the police protection stationed outside her home, she said. She blames Iranian President Hassan Rowhani for the plot and for the kidnap and execution of others opposed to the regime.
“I am grateful to FBI for foiling the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry’s plot to kidnap me,” Alinejad said. “We have been scared of the Islamic regime for a lifetime, but now the Islamic regime is scared of me.”
Alinejad, who came to the United States more than a decade ago, has been a strong media voice challenging the Iran regime. She became a US citizen two years ago.
Four people charged with kidnap conspiracy – Alireza Shavaroghi Farahani, 50, Mahmoud Khazein, 42, Kiya Sadeghi, 35, and Omid Noori, 45 – live in Iran and remain at large, prosecutors said in court papers released on Tuesday. A fifth defendant, Niloufar Bahadorifar, was accused of financially supporting the plot but not participating in the kidnapping conspiracy. A US resident, she was arrested in California this month and was free on bail, prosecutors said.