Journalist Iran Sought to Kidnap from Brooklyn Hits Biden for His Handling of Regime: ‘Be Strong’ Instead of ‘Having a Deal’

The journalist Iran sought to kidnap from the United States criticized President Joe Biden’s approach to the country in a Wednesday interview on CNN, telling the network she wanted the administration to be “strong” instead of seeking “a deal.”

“I cannot believe … that in New York, the Islamic Republic was allowed actually to threaten and follow me, an American Iranian citizen, here in the land of the United States of America,” the journalist, Masih Alinejad, told CNN’s John Berman, “The FBI told me this is the first time in … history they actually chased and followed an Iranian citizen in the United States of America.

The Justice Department announced late Tuesday it had arrested a California woman, Nellie Bahadorifar, in connection with a plot to kidnap Alinejad from her home in Brooklyn. Bahadorifar allegedly financed the plan, which would have involved taking Alinejad to Venezuela by sea before shipping her back to Iran. The department also indicted three co-conspirators, all of whom remain at large in Iran.

Alinejad, a dual citizen who works for Voice of America, became a prominent figure on social media through her criticism of Iran’s regime. She won a human rights award in 2015 for creating a Facebook page that encouraged Iranian women to photograph themselves without wearing hijabs.

The scheme to kidnap Alinejad allegedly involved an American private investigator — who was not aware of the plan — who took photographs of Masih, her home, and her family members for the perpetrators. The Justice Department’s Tuesday indictment strongly implies the 46-year-old Bahadorifar moved the cash to hire the investigator.

“They were following me to take me, to grab me to a boat to Venezuela,” Alinejad said. “I was like, “Wow, so that was the plan?’ But you know what is the most shocking thing for me here — that they even arrested someone in America. It means that there was no background check? Nothing?”

Alinejad also praised federal law enforcement officials, but said she was “disappointed” with Biden’s treatment of Iran, and said she hoped the administration would take action after the plot.

“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. “When Jamal Khashoggi got brutally murdered, the whole world made statements of condemnations. I need the same, because another regime in the Middle East, the Islamic Republic, was trying to kidnap me. So that is why I want [the] Biden administration to be strong instead of just going after them, having a deal with them, they have to care about human rights as well.

Watch above via CNN.

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