United States authorities have formally charged individuals in connection with an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate former President Donald Trump, following his victory in the recent presidential election against Vice President Kamala Harris.
According to statements by the Justice Department on Friday, the scheme, reportedly orchestrated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, aimed to avenge the death of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
Soleimani was killed in a 2020 airstrike under Trump’s orders during his first presidency, escalating tensions between the United States and Iran.
The key suspect in this alleged assassination plot is Farhad Shakeri, a 51-year-old Afghan national believed to be residing in Iran. Authorities claim Shakeri was recruited by the IRGC to develop a plan to kill Trump.
Shakeri, who immigrated to the United States as a child, was previously deported in 2008 after a 14-year prison sentence for robbery, the Justice Department said.
Since his deportation, he allegedly maintained ties with criminal associates in the US and leveraged these connections to supply operatives to the IRGC, conducting surveillance and potential attacks against identified targets.
Two other men, Carlisle Rivera, 49, and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, both from New York, have also been implicated. They face separate charges for conspiring to murder an outspoken Iranian-American critic of the Tehran regime in New York.
The intended target is not named in court filings but is believed to be Masih Alinejad, a prominent journalist and activist who has previously faced threats from the Iranian government. Rivera and Loadholt were apprehended and appeared in a New York court on Thursday.
In a statement, FBI Director Christopher Wray underscored the significance of the arrests, noting, “The charges announced today expose Iran’s continued brazen attempts to target US citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump, other government leaders, and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran.”
The Justice Department additionally revealed that Shakeri had been in communication with FBI agents, allegedly to negotiate a sentence reduction for an imprisoned acquaintance.
During these discussions, Shakeri reportedly disclosed his IRGC connections and detailed the assassination plan against Trump.
According to the complaint, Shakeri conveyed that an IRGC official approached him in September, seeking his assistance in coordinating Trump’s assassination.
When Shakeri raised concerns about the cost of such an operation, the IRGC official allegedly reassured him, stating, “Money’s not an issue.”
This Iranian operation against Trump appears to have been considered in anticipation of either an immediate or post-election attack.
An IRGC official reportedly instructed Shakeri to finalize a strategy within a week but indicated that if Trump lost the election, the assassination could proceed afterward, when the IRGC believed security might be less stringent.
As tensions with Iran persist, the United States continues to allege Iranian-backed plots to assassinate officials and figures critical of Tehran.
Earlier in 2024, US prosecutors charged a Revolutionary Guards general in an unrelated plot targeting Alinejad.
