Iran’s authorities have put more pressure on exiled women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad with the arrest of her brother.

Alinejad, a journalist and activist, has launched campaigns such as “White Wednesdays” and “My Stealthy Freedom”, challenging the compulsory wearing of hijab by women. She is currently a presenter and producer for the Voice of America’s Persian Service, and a contributor to other foreign-based Persian networks.

Intelligence agents raided the house of her brother Ali on Tuesday, Alinejad added. After ransacking the home and confiscating a laptop and cellphone, they handcuffed and blindfolded Ali Alinejad as they took him away.

“We have no information about my brother’s whereabouts. My mother and the family members of my brother’s wife are deeply worried,” Alinejad said Wednesday. “They have been threatened to remain silent, or else.”

Masih Alinejad wrote in July 2918 of pressure on her family to denounce her on State outlets. The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting featured her sister criticizing the activist for the campaign against compulsory hijab.

There has been financial pressure: threats to revoke business permits and licenses, for example. Some relatives have been threatened with firing until they proved their loyalty by offering secrets about me. And, of course, the Intelligence Ministry regularly sends officers to pay visits to my elderly parents. At one point they offered to arrange a “family reunion” in Turkey. I can only imagine what they had in mind for me.

See also Wind in My Hair: One Iranian Woman’s Struggle Against the Hijab
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Alinejad said Wednesday, as President Hassan Rouhani addressed the UN General Assembly, “[He] talks of hope and peace at the United Nations, and yet he is terrorizing people inside the country.”

She explained, “The Islamic Republic acts as a hostage-taker and at the same time wants to be trusted by the rest of the world. My brother was not involved in any political activity, and yet he has been detained just to put pressure on me.”

The Intelligence Ministry’s agents also raised the house of Alinejad’s ex-husband in Babol in northern Iran. He was outside the country, but his brother Hadi Lotfi, his sister Leila Lotfi, and a family friend were arrested.

Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran, wrote Wednesday, “The state’s systematic attack on activists’ families reveals the inhumane tactics they use to muzzle criticism of state policies. Targeting family members is expected from mafias, not law-abiding governments.”