“As alleged, four of the defendants monitored and planned to kidnap a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin who has been critical of the regime’s autocracy, and to forcibly take their intended victim to Iran, where the victim’s fate would have been uncertain at best,” said U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss for the Southern District of New York.
Masih Alinejad speaks out
William Sweeney, the head of New York’s FBI office, also gave a statement saying, “This is not some far-fetched movie plot.”
“We allege a group, backed by the Iranian government, conspired to kidnap a US-based journalist here on our soil and forcibly return her to Iran,” Sweeney emphasized, “Not on our watch.”
When the indictment was made public, Alinejad explained she had been cooperating with the FBI since they approached her eight months ago. The agents showed pictures of her taken by the alleged plotters. The FBI moved her and her husband to a series of safe houses during the investigation.
“The FBI did a great job to make me feel safe here, but to be honest, I’m a little bit disappointed with Biden’s administration, because I’m still waiting for them to take strong action,” Alinejad said.
