US charges four with plot to kidnap journalist critical of Iran

Iranian suspects allegedly hired private investigators under false pretenses to surveil Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad.

US prosecutors have charged four Iranians, alleged to be intelligence operatives, with conspiring to kidnap a New York journalist who was critical of Tehran, according to a Justice Department indictment. While the indictment, unsealed on Tuesday, did not name the target of the plot, the Reuters news agency has confirmed the person as Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, who has contributed to the Voice of America’s (VOA) Persian-language service and reports on human rights issues in Iran. Asked by Reuters to confirm that Alinejad was the target of the plot, the Department of Justice (DoJ) declined to comment.