Masih Alinejad’s blistering testimony at the emergency United Nations Security Council session was nothing short of heroic, and it should shame the world into action. Standing before the Islamic Republic’s representative, she told the council plainly, “You have tried to kill me three times,” a chilling accusation that underlines the regime’s transnational reach and murderous intent.
The United States convened the emergency meeting and invited Alinejad and fellow dissident Ahmad Batebi to put human faces on the carnage unfolding inside Iran, a welcome break from diplomatic platitudes. Alinejad spoke directly to Iran’s deputy ambassador in the chamber, forcing the regime’s envoy to face the moral consequences of his government’s brutality.
This was no abstract warning: American courts last year sentenced two men for hiring a hitman to target Alinejad at her New York home, a reminder that Tehran’s repression doesn’t stop at its borders. The fact that a prominent dissident living in Brooklyn still worries for her life should convince every freedom-loving nation that Iran operates as a state sponsor of terror.
Washington made it plain that all options remain on the table, and President Trump’s blunt posture — saying he’s “locked and loaded” while demanding accountability — is exactly the kind of resolve needed to protect innocent Iranians. Empty U.N. condemnations have never stopped a tyrant; strength and consequences do.
Meanwhile, U.N. officials urge caution and diplomacy, predictably fretting over escalation while people inside Iran are being butchered and silenced. This squeamishness from the international bureaucracy only emboldens dictators; the U.N. must stop treating ruthless regimes with false equivalence and start supporting decisive measures that save lives.
Masih Alinejad’s courage should light a fire under every American who believes in liberty: we must stand with the Iranian people, not with the clerical thugs who send assassins overseas. It’s time for tougher sanctions, relentless exposure of regime crimes, and unwavering political support for Iranians demanding freedom — no more hollow words, only results.
