Man with AK-47 Arrested Near NYC Home of Exiled Iranian Journalist

Facts

• US federal agents arrested Khalid Mehdiyev on Thurs. near the New York City home of famed Iranian writer and dissident, Masih Alinejad, having found an AK-47 with an illegally scrubbed serial number in his car.¹
• Police say they observed Mehdiyev sitting in his car outside Alinejad's house for several hours on two days, adding that he also left his car to look through the windows of her home. Alinejad alleges the actions were an assassination attempt.¹
• The news comes after US prosecutors last year charged four Iranian intelligence operatives - who remain at large - with conspiring to kidnap Alinejad. Alinejad, a journalist in exile and a women's rights advocate, has been critical of Iran's regime.²
• At the time of the kidnapping indictment, the Iranian government called the allegations 'imaginative storytelling' that were so 'baseless and ridiculous that it's not worth responding to.'³
• Several exiled Iranian dissidents have disappeared in recent years, but such threats and actions have been rare on US soil.²
• Alinejad has called for Biden to expel Iranian diplomats to deter further similar plots.⁴

Sources: ¹Daily Wire, ²Washington Post, ³Wall Street Journal and ⁴CNN.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by New York Times. As an American citizen, Alinejad is free to advocate for human rights without being targeted by hostile foreign actors. The US government must do all it can to preserve her freedom of speech, and her right to pursue vital journalism and advocacy.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Farsnews Agency. Allegations of Iran's involvement in any potential harm to Alinejad are absurd and a red herring. Rather than mud-slinging, the US and its international partners should instead focus on reviving the floundering nuclear deal talks that languished for nearly a year and a half.