The Biden administration put on a display of support for Iranian-American journalist and activist Masih Alinejad, who last week was revealed to be the target of an alleged Iranian kidnapping plot.
Alinejad and her husband, Kambiz Foroohar, met on Friday with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who “expressed concern for [her] family and colleagues who are detained in Iran,” according to a readout from National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne.
The Justice Department unsealed an indictment on July 13 “charging four Iranian nationals with conspiracies related to kidnapping, sanctions violations, bank and wire fraud, and money laundering.”
Alinejad was not identified by prosecutors, but she announced on Twitter she was the target.
IRAN’S ATTEMPTED KIDNAPPING OF AMERICAN JOURNALIST NOT THE FIRST NEFARIOUS PLOT ON US SOIL
Alinejad fled Iran in 2009 and settled in New York in 2014. She became known for her popular “My Stealthy Freedom” and “White Wednesdays” social media campaigns.
Sullivan “affirmed the U.S. Government’s strong continued support for Ms. Alinejad’s work to advance universal human rights, particularly her tireless efforts on behalf of women, the Iranian people, and all those unjustly detained by the Iranian government” during the meeting, the White House readout said.
Alireza Shahvaroghi Farahani, Mahmoud Khazein, Kiya Sadeghi, and Omid Noori all “conspired to kidnap a Brooklyn journalist, author, and human rights activist for mobilizing public opinion in Iran and around the world to bring about changes to the regime’s laws and practices,” the Justice Department alleged, citing court documents.
The group of Iranians “has also targeted victims in other countries, including victims in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates, and has worked to procure similar surveillance of those victims,” per the agency.
“I am grateful to FBI for foiling the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry’s plot to kidnap me,” Alinejad tweeted the night the indictments were unsealed, adding, “I’m glad to be alive and appreciate your support. Spare a thought for many other Iranian dissidents kidnapped and executed by this regime.”
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Iranian government officials attempted to persuade Alinejad’s relatives in Iran to invite her to travel to a third country so she could be arrested and sent to Iran to be imprisoned in 2018. Alinejad’s family declined, the indictment said.
Sullivan expressed “concern [over] the growing practice of authoritarian regimes such as Iran targeting dissidents, activists, and journalists across international borders, including within the United States.” He reaffirmed the administration’s opposition to “these illegal actions, which violate human rights and threaten the rules-based international order,” the White House readout said.
