As relationships remain frosty between Tehran and Washington, the charges against the four Iranians are likely to complicate the plot further. On July 13, the indictment against the four Alireza Shavaroghi Farahani, Mahmoud Khazein, Kiya Sadeghi, and Omid Noori in a Manhattan federal court was unsealed. Why target Alinejad? Here s what we know about her and why Iran wanted her back in the country.
Masih Alinejad speaks during the 10th Anniversary Women In The World Summit at the Lincoln Center on April 12, 2019, in New York City. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
Who is Masih Alinejad?
A journalist, author and activist, Alinejad was born in Iran, before being forced to move to the US. Her political activism goes back decades. She was first arrested in 1994 for producing anti-government leaflets. Since then, she has routinely been in and out of court. In 2001, she began her career as a journalist and quickly became a well-known face in the Iranian media as a parliamentary reporter. S
FBI: Iranian intelligence operatives plotted to kidnap U.S. journalist
By AP Staff and FOX 5 NY Staff
Published
The FBI says four men from Iran plotted to kidnap an Iranian American journalist from Brooklyn.
NEW YORK - A federal grand jury in Manhattan has indicted an Iranian intelligence officer and three alleged members of an Iranian intelligence network with plotting to lure a U.S. journalist and human rights activist from New York to Iran,
The plot was part of a wider plan to lure three individuals in Canada and a fifth person in the United Kingdom to Iran, according to the accusations in the indictment filed in Manhattan federal court.
Iranian intelligence officials indicted in attempted kidnapping of U.S.-based journalist
The government in Tehran allegedly directed the state actors to plot the abduction and conduct surveillance on American soil.
Four Iranian intelligence officials were indicted on Tuesday on charges of conspiring to kidnap a Brooklyn-based journalist, according to a release from the Department of Justice. | Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo
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Four Iranian intelligence officials were indicted on Tuesday on charges of conspiring to kidnap a Brooklyn-based journalist, according to a release from the Department of Justice.
The indictment, unsealed by a New York federal court, alleges the four defendants planned to kidnap the journalist of Iranian origin “for mobilizing public opinion in Iran and around the world to bring about changes to the regime’s laws and practices,” the Justice Department release says.
Feds charge four in Iran plot to kidnap US resident, four others
by
In this July 13, 2005, file photo, outgoing reformist Iranian President Mohammad Khatami talks on the phone with the mother of female journalist Masih Alinejad, right, after meeting with journalists in Tehran, Iran. (Hassan Sarbakhshian/AP)
NEW YORK An Iranian intelligence officer and three alleged members of an Iranian intelligence network have been charged in Manhattan with plotting to kidnap a prominent Iranian opposition activist and writer in exile and take her back to Tehran, authorities said Tuesday.
An indictment in Manhattan federal court alleges that the plot was part of a wider plan to lure three individuals in Canada and a fifth person in the United Kingdom to Iran. Victims were also targeted in the United Arab Emirates, authorities said.
Feds charge 4 in Iran plot to kidnap activist in US, others
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FILE - In this July 13, 2005, file photo, outgoing reformist Iranian President Mohammad Khatami talks on the phone with the mother of female journalist Masih Alinejad, right, after meeting with journalists in Tehran, Iran. Prosecutors in the U.S. alleged Tuesday, July 13, 2021, that Iran planned to kidnap Alinejad, famous for her campaign against the Islamic Republic s mandatory headscarf, or hijab, for women. Iran did not immediately comment on the allegation Wednesday, July 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian, File)
NEW YORK (AP) – An Iranian intelligence officer and three alleged members of an Iranian intelligence network have been charged in Manhattan with plotting to kidnap a prominent Iranian opposition activist and writer in exile and take her back to Tehran, authorities said Tuesday.