Ansari says escalating harassment crossed into threats amid Iran war, Hegseth impeachment effort

PHOENIX — Democratic U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona says she has contacted law enforcement after receiving direct threats to her physical safety.

“I fully condemn the hateful rhetoric, lies, cruel and deliberate misinformation and threats that my family, my staff and I have been subjected to since the Iran war began nearly eight weeks ago,” Ansari said in a Tuesday statement.

As the only Democratic Iranian American in Congress, she said she has faced a constant stream of hateful rhetoric that has intensified since she began outspokenly criticizing President Donald Trump’s decision to team up with Israel to launch coordinated attacks on Iran.

Her opposition to the war was a large part of the six articles of impeachment she filed against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week.

Now, she says her loved ones and her staff members are being targeted, doxxed and harassed online.

“This has not been a good-faith policy debate,” Ansari said. “It is a coordinated effort to smear, intimidate and silence and it will not succeed.”

Iranian American lawmaker cites misinformation, AI smears

Ansari’s parents fled Iran in 1979 and relocated to the U.S., a fact she’s proudly spoken about at length.

However, she says detractors are twisting her family history to delegitimize her critique of the Trump administration.

“Bad actors have tried to smear my family and staff by circulating fake and AI-generated images and flat-out lying that my parents and I are not U.S. citizens,” Ansari said. “They have pushed xenophobic and sexist attacks and amplified absurd conspiracy theories about my family. They’ve even gone so far as to spread the outright lie that I am somehow tied to the regime.”

That would be the Islamic Republic regime, which she has condemned as brutal, murderous and theocratic for years.

“I will say this once and move on: These absurd allegations are entirely false and I denounce them in the strongest terms,” Ansari said.

She went on to echo her opposition to the regime, adding that she understands public criticism is a part of her job, but that she won’t tolerate personal attacks and threats to the safety of her and her loved ones.

“These attacks aren’t about truth; they’re the product of desperation from those trying to distract from a failing, illegal war, rising costs of living, and an administration with no coherent strategy while Americans pay the price at the pump,” Ansari said. “While they spread lies, American service members are being put in harm’s way, with real casualties mounting in a war that lacks both justification and direction.”

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