Four Iranian intelligence officials have been charged with plotting to kidnap Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American author and activist. The conspirators, who all live in Iran and remain at large, are also believed to have plotted to lure a person in the UK and three others in Canada to Iran. All of the targets had been critical of Iran.
DOJ says the Iranian officials sought to lure the New York-based journalist to a third country where the abduction was planned. The plotters even offered money to the writer's relatives in Iran to betray them, which they refused to do, the indictment contends.
They hired private investigators to spy on the target's Brooklyn home and family, and set up a live video feed of the property. They also planned to hire a military-style speedboat to evacuate Alinejad from New York City, and use international maritime routes to take her to Venezuela, an ally of Iran.
44-year-old Alinejad is a prominent figure on social media and hosts a program on Voice of America Persian. She runs the My Stealthy Freedom and White Wednesdays campaigns against the mandatory wearing of headscarves for Iranian women. In a public statement, she said, "I am grateful to FBI for foiling the Islamic Republic of Iran's Intelligence Ministry's plot to kidnap me. This plot was orchestrated under Rouhani. This is the regime that kidnapped & executed Ruhollah Zam. They've also kidnapped and jailed Jamshid Sharmahd and many others."
In 2019, the Paris-based dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam was enticed
by Iranian agents to travel to Iraq, where he was kidnapped. He was executed last year after being convicted of sedition
charges.
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