This is the Regime the U.S. is negotiating with over the JCPOA the Trump Administration wisely left. “Four Iranians charged with plotting to kidnap author living in Brooklyn,” Pete Williams and Jonathan Dienst, NBC, July 13, 2021. Federal prosecutors have charged four Iranian intelligence operatives with plotting to kidnap a Brooklyn author and human rights activist. The four — Alireza Shavaroghi Farahani, Mahmoud Khazein, Kiya Sadeghi and Omid Noori, all living in Iran — are accused of conspiring to kidnap a Brooklyn journalist, author and human rights activist who has been critical of the Iranian regime. A fifth, Niloufar Bahadorifar, is accused of providing financial support. The author was not named in court documents, but Masih Alinejad told NBC News that she was the target. A law enforcement official familiar with the case also identified the author as Alinejad. “I’ve been targeted for a number of years but this is the first time that such an audacious plot has been hatched and foiled,” Alinejad said by email Tuesday night. In 2020, Alinejad wrote in The Washington Post that she learned of the Iranian regime’s intention to kidnap her. “It’s been a horrifying experience, but I can’t say that it’s been entirely unexpected. The regime has tried many forms of intimidation to silence me over the years,” she wrote. Prosecutors say the Iranian government directed followers to kidnap the author to get her back to Iran. Farahani is an Iranian intelligence official who lives in Iran, and Khazein, Sadeghi and Noori are Iranian intelligence assets who work for him, the Justice Department said. The charging documents say the men hired private investigators, by misrepresenting who they were and what they wanted, to surveil the author in Brooklyn during 2020 and 2021. Prosecutors said Farahni’s intelligence network also researched how to get the author out of New York. One of the four researched a service offering “military-style speedboats for self-operated maritime evacuation out of New York City, and maritime travel from New York to Venezuela, a country whose de facto government has friendly relations with Iran,” the Justice Department said. Bahadorifar lives in California. She was arrested on July 1 in that state, prosecutors said. She is not charged with participating in the kidnapping conspiracy. Alinejad said Tuesday that because Iranian intelligence agents were involved, she believes Iranian President Hassan Rouhani knew about and approved the plot. “The regime has jailed my brother and interrogated my family. Now, this plot. All to silence me,” she said. Alinejad fled Iran in 2009 and since 2014, has lived in New York, she wrote in The Washington Post. She has criticized the Iranian government’s human rights abuses and launched a campaign against dress codes for women including mandatory wearing of the hijab. In 2019, Alinejad’s brother was arrested by Iranian officials and sentenced to eight years in prison. Alinejad wrote that he was tortured and tried in secret without his lawyer present. U.S. prosecutors said in court documents that in at least the last two years, Iranian intelligence services have lured Iranian expatriates living in other countries to places where they could be captured, imprisoned in Iran and executed.
“Russia, China, Iran Warn U.S. Must Not Intervene in Cuba,” Tom O’Connor, Newsweek, July 13, 2021.
“Iran: Call For Immediate Action To Prevent Execution Of Mehran Gharabaghi, Political Prisoner,” NCRI, July 13, 2021.
“Minister: Iraq resorts to UN to secure water rights from Iran,” MEMO, July 13, 2021.
“Iran, Sweden Weigh Plans for Settlement of Yemen Crisis,” Tasnim, July 13, 2021.
Preposterous. “Iran’s government spokesman Ali Rabiei confirmed the talks and said Tehran calls for the release of all Iranian prisoners, not just those held in the US. Iran “is ready to swap all political prisoners in exchange for freeing all Iranian prisoners across the world,” he told reporters at a televised press conference.” So, notice they want all Iranians, including those convicted of terror in Europe, released. Notice also they aren’t going to be limited from taking more hostages in the future. Again, Preposterous. See “Iran confirms prisoner exchange negotiations with US ongoing,” AFP, Times of Israel, July 13, 2021.
“On anniversary of Ghassemlou death, Iran’s Kurds warn of ‘terror’ under Raisi,” Dilan Sirwan, Rudaw, July 13, 2021.
Charming Kitten again. “Iranian hackers posed as British-based academic,” Gordon Corera, BBC, July 13, 2021.
“Talks with Iran will yield little,” Hussain Abdul-Hussain, op-ed, Times Now News, July 13, 2021.
Iran claims the EU has no moral authority. Hmm. “Iran Dismisses NATO Chief’s Comments,” Tasnim, July, 13, 2021.
“The West Is Waiting on One Man to Determine the Fate of the Iran Nuke Deal,” Amos Harel, op-ed, Haaretz, July 13, 2021.
“Iranian commander urged escalation against US forces at Iraq meeting, sources say,” Reuters, July 13, 2021.
Both the IRGC and the executive branch maintain some control over the MOI. So how far up the chain of authority did the order come to kidnap Alinejad from NYC? And why is this not affecting the JCPOA talks? Alinejad is Iranian-American! “NYC journalist targeted by Iranian operatives in twisted kidnapping plot, feds say,” Ben Feuerherd and Bruce Golding, New York Post, Fox, July 13, 2021.
And another Quote of the Day: “U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said the four defendants charged in the kidnapping plot “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.” … “Among this country’s most cherished freedoms is the right to speak one’s mind without fear of government reprisal. A U.S. citizen living in the United States must be able to advocate for human rights without being targeted by foreign intelligence operatives,” she added.” See “Feds charge 4 in Manhattan with plotting to kidnap a US journalist and human rights activist, 4 others,” Larry Neumeister, AP, The Morning call, July 13, 2021. See DOJ PR. See USAttorney PR.
“These Iranian hackers posed as academics in a bid to steal email passwords,” Danny Palmer, ZDNet, July 13, 2021.
Iran calls it “exchange of prisoners.” “Iran says it is holding talks on prisoner exchanges with U.S.,” KFGO, Thomson Reuters, July 13, 2021.
