Iranian-American journalist, writer and activist (born 1976)
Masih Alinejad
مسیح علی نژاد
Alinejad in 2018
Born
Masoumeh Alinejad-Ghomikolayi
(1976-09-11) September 11, 1976 (age 47)
Qomi Kola, Babol, Imperial State of Iran
Nationality
Iranian
Citizenship
United States[1]
Education
Oxford Brookes University
Occupation(s)
Journalist and author
Years active
2001–present
Employer
U.S. Agency for Global Media
Spouses
Max Lotfi
(divorced)
[2]
Kambiz Forouhar
(m. 2014)
[3]
Children
1
Masih Alinejad (Persian: مسیح علینژاد, born Masoumeh Alinejad-Ghomikolayi (Persian: معصومه علینژاد قمیکُلایی), September 11, 1976[citation needed]) is an Iranian-American[4] journalist, author, and women's rights activist.[5][6] Alinejad works as a presenter/producer at VOA Persian Service, a correspondent for Radio Farda, a frequent contributor for Manoto television, and a contributing editor for IranWire.[7] Alinejad focuses on criticism of the status of human rights in Iran, especially women's rights in Iran.[8]Time magazine named her among its 2023 honorees for Women of the Year.[9]
She lives in exile in New York City, and has won several awards, including the 2015 Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy women's rights award, the Omid Journalism Award from the Mehdi Semsar Foundation, and a "Highly Commended" AIB Media Excellence Award.[10]
In 2019, Alinejad sued the Iranian government in a U.S. federal court for harassment against her and her family.[11] She released a book in 2018 called The Wind in My Hair that deals with her experiences growing up in Iran, where she writes girls "are raised to keep their heads low, to be unobtrusive as possible, and to be meek".[12][13] In 2021, U.S. prosecutors charged four Iranian intelligence officials with plotting to kidnap a critic of the Iranian government; the target was not named, but Alinejad believes it was her.[14]
^Weiser, Benjamin (July 13, 2021). "Iranian Operatives Planned to Kidnap a Brooklyn Author, Prosecutors Say". The New York Times. Retrieved July 14, 2021. ... Ms. Alinejad, an American citizen ...
^"Family of prominent Iranian women's rights activist detained". September 25, 2019.
^"Project Exile: Out of Iran, a voice for human rights - Global Journalist". Global Journalist. October 13, 2014.
^Inskeep, Steve (July 15, 2021). "The Journalist Iran Allegedly Sought To Kidnap Says She Would Have Been Killed". NPR.org. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
^"Iran: Family of women's rights activist arrested in despicable attempt to intimidate her into silence". September 25, 2019.
^Fang, Lee (January 7, 2020), "VOA Persian Awarded Journalism Contract to Controversial Former Trump Campaign Operative", The Intercept, retrieved March 20, 2020
^"USAGM". USAGM. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
^Morris, Cheryl (November 1, 2007). "How Masih Alinejad is paying the price for confronting Iran's leaders". New Internationalist. Retrieved July 26, 2010.
^Evans, Greg (March 2, 2023). "Cate Blanchett, Angela Bassett Among Time's 2023 Women Of The Year". Deadline. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
^"Radio Farda and Radio Free Afghanistan Honored By AIB". Pressroom. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. November 7, 2013. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
^"Anti-headscarf law activist sues Iran in US over harassment". AP News. April 21, 2021.
^"The wind in my hair: one Iranian woman's courageous struggle against being forced to wear the hijab". The Guardian. June 2, 2018.
^Smith, Jordan Michael (August 13, 2019). "How Voice of America Persian Became a Trump Administration PR Machine". The Intercept. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
^Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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Amer al-Fayaz, who was earlier a member of Fatah party. Alinejad, A. Conversation with Masih. "Electoral Law: Signaling a Short-Lived Run for Iraq's Independent...
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democracy, it is sad to see these heinous acts happen in the free world." MasihAlinejad wrote: "I am deeply disturbed by the cowardly assault on my friend Pouria...
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