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An Iranian-American actor who publicly criticized Iran’s regime on social media in 2022 alleges that Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps tortured him in Iran before pursuing him and his family through proxies and paid operatives in the United States, according to allegations summarized in an October 2 federal court order. The alleged retaliation included relatives taken hostage in Iran, threats against his American-born son, attempted vehicle collisions and an arson plot targeting a cultural institute he founded.
The case describes an alleged campaign of coercion that followed a critic across borders and reached into his family’s life in America. Chief Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the family’s request to proceed under pseudonyms, citing risks to them and relatives still living in Iran.
Alleged Torture and Hostage-Taking to Silence a Critic
The principal plaintiff, identified as “Veinte Doe,” is described as a well-known actor, writer and director born in Iran. He moved to the United States in 2016 and became a naturalized American citizen in 2023.
His wife, “Veinte Uno Doe,” was also born in Iran and became a U.S. citizen in 2009. Their son, “Veinte Dos Doe,” was born in California in 2013.
According to the court’s account, the actor spoke out against the Islamic Republic on social media in 2022 and subsequently faced punishment and a campaign of intimidation.
The family alleges that the defendants initially tortured him in Iran and took his relatives hostage to compel him to abandon his public criticism. Afterward, they allegedly continued pursuing him and his family in the United States.
The Alleged Campaign Reached American Streets
The family alleges that the pursuit in America operated through proxies, intermediaries and paid operatives, coordinated with a parallel campaign of media vilification.
The reported incidents included a stone thrown through their window, confrontations in a supermarket, a car chase, attempted vehicle collisions and verbal threats.
Their son was allegedly subjected to physical interference followed by a threatening note. The order also references allegations of threats against the child’s life.
These incidents, as described by the plaintiffs, brought the alleged retaliation into the places where the family lived, shopped and traveled. The targeting of a child forms a particularly serious part of their account.
The family further alleges an arson plot against a cultural institute founded by the actor. The alleged campaign therefore extended beyond the actor’s personal safety to his family and an institution he had established.
Public Vilification and the Risk of Further Attacks
The alleged operation combined physical intimidation with a coordinated campaign of media vilification. According to the court’s summary, the family contends that this campaign marked them as targets for anyone willing to act against them.
The family alleges that the vilification campaign effectively marked them for others willing to act against them. In granting pseudonymity, Boasberg specifically cited the risk that third-party proxies could seek to harm the plaintiffs on their own initiative rather than solely at the defendants’ direction.
IRGC Iran has mass murdered tens of thousands of Iranian dissidents, men, women, children. They continue to torture, murder, publicly execute democracy protesters every day. Where’s the GLOBAL outrage?
Most of the dissenters don’t hate Israel. Many seek cooperation across so many crucial concerns. Lack of hatred for Israel is essentially a capital crime in IRGC Iran. Western Progressives!!! Where the hell are you? Does your irrational hatred of Israel cause you to support regimes that would throw you all off very high roofs? Hundreds of left supporters of the Islamic Revolution and of Khomeini were put up against a wall and shot. Marxist-Leninists supporting the regime got a big lesson fast. No one but Islamic fanatics get to power in the regime.
shalom / salaam