The Iranian dissident was targeted by assassins who also went after Trump

Ms. Alinejad harbored a distrust of authority from a young age. She was reportedly expelled from high school for questioning its religious teachings before leaving for Tehran to become a journalist.

She rose to fame as a reporter in the Iranian parliament, questioning powerful men in a country where women do not have the right to vote and have been beaten to death for leaving the house without a hijab.

She once approached a politician for an interview, but he waved a fist in her face and threatened to hit her when he noticed a few hairs sticking out of her head covering.

Ms. Alinejad says she yelled back, “All this fuss over two locks. You should be ashamed.”

In an interview with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, she asked why other countries should “respect our Islamic values” while Western women in Iran were forced to wear a hijab. Khatami, she said, was “speechless.”

Ultimately, her press pass was revoked while she was investigating the merits of MPs and she fled to the US.

The 48-year-old continued to write stories documenting the plight of women in Iran and in 2014 founded My Stealthy Freedom – a civil disobedience campaign that encourages women to have their pictures taken without wearing a hijab.

She was once called “The Woman Whose Hair Scares Iran” by The New York Times. Iran’s response was to put her on a death list.

Ms. Alinejad has now urged Mr. Trump to be forceful in his response to the regime — something that is likely to suit the Republican’s instincts as he has appointed Iranian hawks to his transition team.

“I call on the US government and the future president of the United States to be tough on terror. The Islamic Republic understands only one language: the language of pressure,” she wrote on social media.

“I came to America to exercise my First Amendment right to freedom of speech – I don’t want to die. I want to fight against tyranny, and I deserve to be safe.”