Kidnap Plot of Exiled Iranian Journalist Masih Alinejad Foiled by FBI Four Iranians have been charged by Feds; Alinejad appeared at WrapWomen events to champion women’s rights Getty Iranian dissident journalist Masih Alinejad, a staunch critic of the country’s theocratic government, was the target of a plot by intelligence operatives to kidnap her and forcibly bring her back to Iran, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Four Iranian citizens, including an intelligence officer named Alireza Shavaroghi Farahani, have been indicted in New York, the New York Times reported. According to the Times, a fifth person, arrested in California, was accused of actively aiding the would-be kidnappers but did not otherwise participate. The four named defendants live in Iran.