For Masih Alinejad, the past four years seem as if from a movie, albeit one that defies simple categorization as it veers between horror, drama, tragedy, and suspense. During this time, she has moved between no fewer than 21 houses, as the Iranian regime has tried to kidnap her. Just two weeks ago, an indictment was filed in the US against several figures in Iran who tried to eliminate her two years ago, chief among them the commander of the counter-espionage department in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Ruhollah Bazghandi. Even now, the filmscript continues to be written, as most of the accused in the case still roam free.
"In recent years, I have had to endure watching family members who were forced to denounce me on national television, which was heartbreaking," she says with pain in a special interview with "Globes." "Knowing that my brother was imprisoned for two years on account of my activities was soul-wrenching. Not being able to talk to my mom continues to be a major source of anguish. Where I lived in Brooklyn, I planted a cherry blossom tree in honor of my mom, but then because of the threats, I had to leave that home. It’s like I had to abandon my mom for the second time. It was awful. In the US, I am free and safe, and sometimes happy, but I still have to deal with loss every day.
To understand why the Iranians will not stop persecuting her, we must review her history. Alinejad rose through the ranks of local media, gaining a reputation that allowed her to interview the former president, Mohammad Khatami. However, 15 years ago the regime began to close in on her, following her reports about members of parliament. As a result, she was forced to flee to the UK and then to the US. Today she reports for the Voice of America Persian News Network (radio and TV), where she also has her own program.
The geographical move did not stop her from trying to influence her homeland. Over the past few years, she has led the hijab protest on social media, where she uploads photos and videos of Iranian women without head coverings. Now, as the State of Israel battles against Iran and its proxies, she shares her thoughts about the war taking place between the countries, the place where she grew up, the family she left behind, and the unusual lifestyle she has imposed upon herself.
$30,000 bounty on her head
Alinejad grew up in the small village of Qomi Kola in the Mazandaran Province in northern Iran, near the Caspian Sea. Her family is very religious, and she was required to wear a hijab, even indoors. Despite this personal background, she was a social activist from a young age. At 20, already married and pregnant, she was arrested with her then-husband and her brother for distributing leaflets and posting graffiti critical of the Islamic Republic.
She began her journalistic career in 2001, at the "Hambastegi" newspaper. Within eight years, she had worked at several other reformist newspapers that were subsequently closed by the regime. After that, she became the parliamentary correspondent for the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA). According to website "Iran Wire," "In 2005, she disclosed in an article that members of parliament were being paid huge sums in New Year bonuses and supported her claim by reproducing three of their pay slips." As a result, she was banned from entering parliament. In 2009, the presidential elections were held in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won. The regime denied using violence against protesters and journalists, but Alinejad nonetheless was able to document and publish the names of people who were killed during the protests.
Sensing that the regime was getting near to closing accounts with her, she fled to the UK in 2009. Five years later she moved to the US, and is now a US citizen.
What does a daily routine look like for a woman who knows the IRGC wants to harm her?
"What daily routine? It is difficult to have a daily routine when you had to move 21 times in just four years due to security threats. Also, I travel a lot trying to convey a message of solidarity to my fellow exiles and trying to advocate on behalf of my people. So, the only daily routine I have is the obsessive checking of my messages and emails, and continually updating my social media accounts in between interviews, conferences, workshops and preparing for my TV program."
Today, she can breathe a little more easily, after several figures in Iran were indicted in the US for attempting to assassinate her. "I am heartened to see that high level people are being held accountable for their crimes, and that the authorities in the US are taking this seriously and not trying to ignore it. On the other hand, I am angered to see the clerical regime is so emboldened to be plotting so openly."
What do you know about Bazghandi, the accused general?
"He was one of the top generals who worked with Qassem Soleimani and that he was involved in orchestrating Islamic Republic elimination of its foes. I also learnt that he had been assigned the task of assassinating Israeli citizens all over the world."
The indictment submitted indicates that Iran recruited a young man of Azerbaijani origin and living in New York, Khalid Mehdiyev, to assassinate Alinejad. He was offered $30,000 for the job. Mehdiyev was part of a network that also includes another person of Azerbaijani origin, Rafat Amirov. Mehdiyev was arrested near her home; a Kalashnikov rifle and 66 bullets were found in his car.
According to the indictment, the assassination team planned, to lure Alinejad out of her home by asking her for flowers from her garden and then shooting her. "The Justice Department has now charged eight individuals, including an Iranian military official, for their efforts to silence and kill a US citizen because of her criticism of the Iranian regime," US Attorney General Merrick Garland said. "We will not tolerate efforts by an authoritarian regime like Iran to undermine the fundamental rights guaranteed to every American."
This is not the first time the regime has tried to harm Alinejad. In 2021, her family in Iran was instructed by authorities to lure her to Turkey, and purchased speedboats with the aim of kidnapping and transporting her to Venezuela, after which it planned to fly her to Iran. But apparently, Masih Alinejad isn’t easily rattled.
"I use my TV program and my social media accounts to encourage and mobilize the Iranian people to rise against the oppressive clerical regime," explains Alinejad. "I focus on women in particular because I believe that when women oppose the laws imposed by the Islamic regime, such as, by removing the compulsory hijab, they challenge its very legitimacy. That’s what makes the regime very angry with me and very intent on killing me. I occasionally describe myself as a 'Dead Woman Talking,' not because I am resigned to dying, but in recognition of the dangers that surround me."
"I want to outlive the regime"
As part of her struggle, Alinejad focuses on women's rights in Iran. Only days ago, the world was reminded of the importance of this issue when a young Iranian woman publicly removed her clothes in the streets of Tehran, in protest of harassment received by the modesty police for not wearing a hijab. She was arrested and, as of publication of this article, her whereabouts are still unknown.
Still, this is not Iran’s only problem, as it is plagued by no few internal issues. For example, Iran’s poverty rate is close to 33%, and the official unemployment rate is 7.7%. The real estate sector outlook is also gloomy for the younger generation. According to the Central Bank, the average price per square meter for housing in Tehran has reached 885 million rials (about $1,500).
Iranian news agency ISNA reports that 51% of apartments in Tehran are rentals. Moreover, the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) estimates the rate of increase in housing prices last August at 43% per year, meaning that renters would have to work 48 years to buy an apartment.
The collapse of the Iranian currency is an addition woe. In 1978, just before the Islamic revolution, the rate of exchange was 70 rials to the US dollar. In 2018, before US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the USD/Rial exchange rate was approximately 40,000 rials to the US dollar. Today it stands at about 710,000 rials.
When asked about the difference between the Iranian and US media, Alinejad sums it up with the words, "Freedom, freedom, freedom," adding, "No thought police. No morality police. No fear of retribution if you stray beyond certain imposed lines. Despite the polarization that we see taking place in the US, it is incomparable with the censorship I experienced in Iran.
"I want to outlive the regime and more: I want to see a free, prosperous and secular Iran, and I am willing to risk my life for that. Some Islamists say they don’t fear death, and they love death. But I risk my life because I love life."
"Only a narrow segment wants war"
Beyond the many topics that are always of interest regarding Iran, the past year has pulled back the mask of the Islamic Republic. Following the October 7 attack, the Ayatollah regime activated its numerous proxies, chiefly Hezbollah and the Houthis, in an effort to ensure the survival of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. However, a year later, Iran's plans are collapsing like a house of cards: Hamas has been defeated militarily, Hezbollah has suffered severe losses in its political and military leadership, and the Houthis are contending with the fallout of Israeli strikes on their oil infrastructure.
"Being in the US changed my views on many things. It opened my mind," Alinejad says. "But in all honesty, I always knew that the animosity towards Israel was something that’s been intentionally fabricated by the regime, and that sympathy for the Palestinians should not necessarily translate into animosity towards Israel."
What do the Iranian people think about Israel?
"I am sure there are those who hold positive views just as there are those who have negative views. But I do believe that the majority prefers peace regardless of their view of Israel. In other words, many Iranians might have negative views of Israel, perhaps very negative views, but war remains an exclusive choice of the mullahs and of that narrow segment of the population that benefits from their rule.
And I am sure that democracy will lead many Iranians to changing any negative views they might have towards Israel, as independent media sets about challenging and refuting the lies and narrative perpetrated by the Islamic regime."
Alinejad points out that the current war is only possible because an Islamic regime rules the country. In her view, it stems from the Islamic Republic's desire to maintain its grip on power, even though the majority of Iranian people have no interest in this. "The Iranian people want to be free, prosperous and at peace with their neighbors, they have no reason to hate Israel. The Palestinians will be better off without the 'support' that Iran has been giving to Hamas over the years. This is not real support. This is an attempt to hijack their cause and turn it into a tool that the mullahs can use for their schemes. "
In the current situation, she sees the tragic outcomes of the regime's ambitions. "The clerics are willing to fight Israel to the last Palestinian, Syrian, Iraqi, Lebanese and Yemeni. They are even willing to risk the lives of many Iranians in this meaningless war just to stay in power. We all deserve better than this, much better than this. We all deserve peace and prosperity."
Do you see the current war as an opportunity for Israel or for the Iranian people?
"I think the current war has exposed both the fragility and hypocrisy of the regime, and that does give the Iranian people the opportunity to challenge it. I also think that the opposition group have to take the lead and get their act together: this is a moment for unity and for finding common grounds to topple the regime. We need to send the Iranian people a message of hope, and we need to show the international community that viable alternatives to the mullah regime do exist."
Alinejad details how the developments in the current war are making things hard for the Islamic Republic. "At some point, some people in the regime believed that [the war was good for Iran], but following the crushing of Hezbollah in Lebanon, I think they are reconsidering, but it might be too late. The missile strike on Israel was a miscalculation. The fact that Israel is taking its time before retaliating should be a major cause for worry for the regime. It may not bring down the regime, but it will expose it more to the people and to the world, and many will realize that they need to save Iran from the regime, its toxic ideology, its corruption, and its miscalculations."
"Most Iranian people want peace with Israel"
Many think that one aim of Tehran's current war is to divert global attention away from the regime’s nuclear program. According to Reuters, a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) indicated that Iran's stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity grew by an estimated 22.6 kilograms to 164.7 kilograms. IAEA estimates that Teheran is 2 kilograms short of being enough, theoretically, if enriched further, for four nuclear bombs.
Although the Ayatollahs' regime does not state this openly, Alinejad believes Iran aspires to get nuclear weapons. "Yes, under the Mullah regime, this is a strategic choice. The only thing that will stop this drive is a transition towards democratic rule."
Why does the US not join in attacking Iran?
"Domestic politics in the US are complicated at the moment. People from the left and right would probably oppose any such move at this stage, but this could change."
Finally, do you think it is a likely scenario that Iran will become a friend of Israel again?
"In a democratic Iran, this is not only likely but the most logical scenario. The majority of Iranian people want peace with Israel, even those who might have a negative view of Israel, because the majority understands that peace with Israel is in our national interest."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on November 10, 2024.
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