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Iranian Dissident Confronts Assassin at Sentencing Hearing

1/28/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Masih Alinejad, an Iranian dissident and critic of Iran's treatment of women, has survived multiple assassination plots.
She will confront one would-be killer, Farhad Shakeri, at his Manhattan sentencing.
Alinejad alleges the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps orchestrated the plots and that Iran's Supreme Leader ordered her killing.
She says the threats undermine free speech in the United States and seeks accountability for those behind the plots.

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Story summary

Masih Alinejad, an Iranian dissident and critic of Iran's treatment of women, has survived multiple assassination plots.
She will confront one would-be killer, Farhad Shakeri, at his Manhattan sentencing.
Alinejad alleges the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps orchestrated the plots and that Iran's Supreme Leader ordered her killing.
She says the threats undermine free speech in the United States and seeks accountability for those behind the plots.