Four members of an alleged Iranian spy network have been charged with plotting the kidnap of an Iranian-American journalist and activist based in New York. William Sweeney, the head of New York’s FBI office, conceded the charges had the ring of “some far-fetched movie plot”. “We allege a group, backed by the Iranian government, conspired to kidnap a US based journalist here on our soil and forcibly return her to Iran,” Sweeney said. The alleged Iranian spies were said to have researched travel routes from Alinejad’s home to a “waterfront neighborhood in Brooklyn”. There is no evidence presented in the indictment that the plot progressed beyond research of the alleged abduction route.

Source: The Guardian July 14, 2021 00:22 UTC