Alinejad, who has lived in 21 different safe houses under FBI protection over the past three years, is constantly shifting her locations. “Because the U.S. government can’t protect us, the Iranian regime’s fear is working. They’re isolating us.”

The contrast between the Iranian president’s charm offensive, and Alinejad’s misery, offers a unique window into the geopolitical struggle playing out across Manhattan this week—both in the spotlight and the backrooms—as the global elite attend the annual UN General Assembly and Iranian officials take to American airwaves and dine at New York restaurants.

Pezeshkian and his delegation are being feted by UN, European, and Middle East delegations as a potential ally in stopping the regional spread of Israel’s war against Hamas, Tehran’s military proxy in the Gaza Strip. According to Iranian state media, Tehran’s president met the leaders of Kuwait, Lebanon, Sudan, and Pakistan, as well as French president Emmanuel Macron and UK foreign minister David Lammy.