Iranian journalist details scary plot to target her: 'The US government isn't tough on terror'
Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad shares how a man was outside of her home with a rifle on 'The Story with Martha MacCallum.'
Iranian journalist and outspoken women's rights activist Masih Alinejad told Fox News on Monday that she believes the man arrested near her Brooklyn home with a loaded AK-47-style rifle home was sent by the Islamic Republic of Iran to "get rid" of her.
Police found a loaded AK-47, 66 rounds of ammo, and more than $1,000 cash in a briefcase after they pulled over 23-year-old Khalid Mehdiyev last Thursday for running a stop sign. Law enforcement officers saw the suspect outside Alinejad's home in New York's Flatbush neighborhood for several hours prior to his arrest, a criminal complaint revealed.
In an interview on "The Story," Alinejad's said she is certain she was targeted by the Iranian government for speaking out against the regime and empowering women to challenge longstanding Iranian law.
NEW YORK MAN WITH LOADED AK-47 ARRESTED NEAR HOME OF IRANIAN DISSIDENT, CRIMINAL COMPLAINT SAYS
\Journalist and Author Masih Alinejad speaks onstage during the WICT Leadership Conference at New York Marriott Marquis Hotel on October 16, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Women in Cable Telecommunications) (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Women in Cable Telecommunications)
"Every single time I hear about this, I get goosebumps," Alinejad told Fox News host Martha MacCallum. "When I learned from the FBI that he had a gun loaded ready to kill me, I was shocked…I don’t have any weapons. My weapon is my camera. My weapon is my voice. And clearly, the [Iranian] government is scared of my voice. But right now, I'm worried about the women inside Iran," she said. "This is all happening because of the women in Iran who dare to go to the street and challenge the Islamic republic and send videos to me. It’s scary. The whole regime is scared of women."
Alinejad said Thursday's incident enrages her because she was targeted at her home, where she lives with her family and her stepchildren.
"Just imagine if he opened the door, Who knows how many of my neighbors would have been killed in Brooklyn," she said. "My stepchildren live in the same house. This gun right now is being used by Putin's soldiers to kill people in Ukraine. And now, the gun is being used here in Brooklyn to kill me."
Alinejad was the target last year of an alleged kidnapping plot by Iranian nationals. She told Fox News in July 2021 that she had been targeted by the regime of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for her work chronicling public beatings in the streets of Tehran, and imagery of Iranian women’s brave acts, such as removing their Islamic hijab, which is considered a high crime in the country. The plot was infiltrated by the FBI, Alinejad said. Iran has denied her kidnapping allegations, calling them "baseless."
Evidence presented in court documents. (Southern District Court of NY)
Alinejad said she is "furious" with the response from the U.S. government, and blames the Biden administration for taking inadequate action against Iran after last year's alleged kidnapping plot.
"I’m furious," she said. "Last year, I was on your show. I was everywhere talking about the kidnapping plot which was stopped by the FBI. If the US government took strong action, calling this an act of terrorism, punishing the Islamic republic, it wouldn’t have happened again to me," she said, "and this time the regime would just get rid of me."
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"America is the land of immigrants," she said. "A lot of people left their country to come here to be safe. But here in the USA, I was just in my home, working, being alone. And this man was trying to enter my home."
Alinejad chastized Biden for signaling to foreign governments that the U.S. does not respond aggressively against acts of terror. In a warning to the administration, Alinejad stressed that if the U.S. doesn't stand up to the Iranian regime now, it's unlikely that she will be the last Iranian target on American soil.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a cabinet meeting in Tehran, Iran, on Wednesday, Jan. 6. (Iranian Presidency Office/AP)
"The Islamic republic knows that. The U.S. government is not tough on terror," she said. "They bury human rights under nuclear deals. So there’s no reason for the Islamic republic to stop kidnapping, harassing torturing and trying to assassinate a U.S. citizen here.
"Believe me," she added, "if the government right now does not take strong action, they’re going to come after more American citizens on U.S. soil."
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Mehdiyev has been charged with a federal weapons count. Investigators are determining whether he was surveilling Alinejad’s home and, if so, whether he was acting alone.