A number of former and current US officials have decried the Islamic Republic’s harassment of New York-based dissident journalist and women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jim Risch (R-Idaho) described the continued Iranian harassment of Alinejad as “outrageous,” referring to the man armed with a loaded AK-47 who was arrested outside her Brooklyn home on Thursday. 

Praising Alinejad’s unrelenting fight for the rights of Iranian women, he said, “Her steadfast commitment to fighting the Iranian regime and standing up for human rights should be an inspiration to us all.” 

“I was honored to meet her last year after the Iranians attempted to kidnap her,” he added, referring to an international kidnapping plot orchestrated by Iran’s intelligence network last year.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby also condemned the apparent attempt to harm the rights activist, saying that this is an open criminal investigation and “while we wait to see the results of this investigation, we want to reaffirm it is the first priority for President Joe Biden to counter threats posed by Iran.”

Echoing similar sentiments, former State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said on Sunday that “The Iranian regime is threatening to assassinate our leaders. Now their radical followers are stalking Iranian dissidents and trying to kill them here too." 

Calling for travel restrictions against Iranian delegations’ visit to UN headquarters in New York and also for closure of Iran’s Interests Section in Pakistan's Embassy in DC, she said “There's no reason for this arrangement while the regime increases its assassination attempts on our soil.” “We need to kick all Iranian operatives and 'diplomats' out of America now.”