Iranian-born journalist targeted in kidnap plot tells Fox Tehran regime cannot 'break me'
In an exclusive interview, Masih Alinejad speaks out to 'The Story' after FBI relocates her to safe house following Iranian nationals' attempt to abduct her
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}EXCLUSIVE - An Iranian-born journalist who was targeted in a kidnapping plot by four now-wanted Iranian nationals spoke out exclusively to Fox News' Martha MacCallum on "The Story" after the FBI relocated her to an undisclosed safe house.
Masih Alinejad said she has been targeted by the regime of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for her work chronicling public beatings in the streets of the capital Tehran, and imagery of Iranian women's brave acts, such as removing their Islamic hijab – which is a high crime there.
Alinejad, an American citizen, said she was in her New York City apartment when the FBI disrupted the plot by four individuals to reportedly kidnap her and seek "maritime"-based military-style evacuation to Venezuela, where the disputed Maduro regime is aligned with Tehran. The FBI has a bulletin seeking information to help capture the four suspects: Kiya Sadeghi, Mahmoud Khazein, Omid Noori and Alireza Shahvaroghi-Farahani.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Alinejad told MacCallum that her coverage in a country that lacks constitutional freedom of the press or speech has resulted in multiple family members being personally targeted and oppressed by the terror-supporting regime.
Her brother is in prison there, her 70-year-old mother has been singled out by the government, and her sister was forced to disown her on state television.
But Alinejad reiterated that she is undeterred in her mission as a citizen journalist to expose the oppression and human rights violations of the Rouhani regime, which will soon give way to the even more hardline President-elect Ebrahim Raisi.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"[The plot was] scary, to be honest. I got goosebumps when I heard about the details," she said on "The Story." "To be honest, that shows that the regime is scared of me. They are really scared of women. They're scared of their own people."
"I'm a journalist. I'm not a criminal. I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm giving voice to people inside Iran who dare to share their videos filming, bravely, the brutal regime. That scares the government," Alinejad continued. "That's it… Sometimes I tell myself that this government did everything to break me."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Alinejad added that her work has now led to a new law in Tehran banning others from sending her footage.
"The head of the court said if anyone sends videos to Masih, we'll charge them 10 years in prison. Can you believe that? [Yet] all of this didn't stop people. That's why they arrested my brother. That didn't stop me," she said.
"Then they [come] here to kidnap me on American soil. I always tell myself that I have to feel miserable every day, or I have to make my oppressors feel miserable. I choose the second one. I am following the Iranian brave women. They're like Rosa Parkses of Iran. When they don't give up, why should I give up?"