24 Facts About Masih Alinejad

Masih Alinejad is an Iranian-American journalist, author, and women's rights activist.

Masih Alinejad focuses on criticism of the status of human rights in Iran, especially women's rights.

Masih Alinejad released a memoir in 2018 titled 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".

In 2019, Masih Alinejad sued the Iranian government in a US federal court for harassment against her and her family.

Masih Alinejad was politically conscious from a young age, and was arrested in 1994 for producing leaflets critical of the government.

Masih Alinejad began her journalism career in 2001 with the local daily Hambastegi, and then worked for the Iranian Labour News Agency.

In 2008, Masih Alinejad wrote an exceptionally critical piece in Etemad, called "Song of the Dolphins", in which she compared Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's followers to hungry dolphins that make sounds and perform entertaining acts to grab a morsel of food from their trainer.

Masih Alinejad graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Communications Studies.

In 2014, Masih Alinejad launched My Stealthy Freedom, a Facebook page that invites Iranian women to post pictures of themselves without a hijab.

Masih Alinejad has said she is not opposed to the hijab per se, but believes it should be a matter of personal choice.

In July 2019, Iranian authorities warned the public that anyone sending videos to Masih Alinejad faced up to 10 years in prison.

Musa Ghazanfarabadi, the head of Tehran's Revolutionary Court, told Fars News that those sharing protest videos with Masih Alinejad could be imprisoned for up to a decade under laws relating to cooperating with an enemy of the state.

Masih Alinejad said she "felt that you are using one of the most visible symbols of oppression for Muslim women in many countries for solidarity, and it broke my heart".

In 2016, Masih Alinejad launched a boycott campaign against the 2016 women's chess world championship, to be held in February 2017 in Tehran, Iran.

Masih Alinejad supported Paikidze, and co-wrote an op-ed with Indian-American Asra Nomani in The Washington Post.

Masih Alinejad moved from London to New York City and took up permanent residence in the United States in 2014.

In February 2019, Masih Alinejad met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Masih Alinejad said they met for 35 minutes and she highlighted three areas.

Masih Alinejad responded that her family was forced to say such things by the authorities, a common tactic employed by the Iranian government aimed at discrediting dissidents.

Masih Alinejad was sentenced to eight years; US District Judge G Michael Harvey concluded he was held hostage until August 2021, and tortured during his detention.

Masih Alinejad told The Guardian in 2013 that her father had refused to speak to her for three years as a result.

Masih Alinejad was stopped later that day by New York City Police during a traffic stop.

Masih Alinejad's license had been suspended and he was arrested for driving without one.

In November 2024, three other men were charged in a separate plot by Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of Iran to kill Masih Alinejad and United States president-elect Donald Trump.