Iranian dissident put under 24-hour police protection in UK after threats to life

Masih Alinejad said ‘it is scary’ but her goal was to give a ‘voice to voiceless people’. Photograph: Lawrence Neumeister/AP

Masih Alinejad, a leading Iranian dissident based in the US, has been put under 24-hour police protection in the UK after the Metropolitan police received credible threats to her life.

Alinejad has become one of the main amplifiers of the protests inside Iran, appearing at the UN and meeting European leaders such as France’s Emmanuel Macron and the Netherland’s Mark Rutte.