The US Justice Department unsealed charges against three individuals on Friday in connection with an Iranian plot to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump. The plot, orchestrated by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, aimed to kill Trump in retaliation for the death of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani.
The prime suspect, identified as Farhad Shakeri, 51, is currently at large in Iran. According to the DOJ, Shakeri was instructed by an unnamed Iranian official to develop the plan before the presidential election.
“Shakeri is an [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] asset residing in Tehran, Iran,” prosecutors said. “Shakeri immigrated to the United States as a child and was deported in or about 2008 after serving 14 years in prison for a robbery conviction. In recent months, Shakeri has used a network of criminal associates he met in prison in the United States to supply the IRGC with operatives to conduct surveillance and assassinations of IRGC targets.”
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The would-be assassin also had orders to target an unidentified Iranian dissident and two Jewish Americans, but these latter targets were reduced to low-priority status as the election approached. Iran also appears to have believed Trump would lose the election, making him an easier target once he was no longer running for office.
“SHAKERI indicated to IRGC Official-1 that this would cost a ‘huge’ amount of money,” the indictment said. “In response, IRGC Official-1 said that ‘we have already spent a lot of money [s]o the money’s not an issue,’ which SHAKERI understood to mean that the IRGC previously had spent a significant sum of money on efforts to murder Victim-4 and was willing to continue spending a lot of money in its attempt to procure Victim-4’s assassination.”
Two other men, Carlisle Rivera, 49, and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, were arrested in New York for their involvement in the scheme, which also included targeting a prominent Iranian American journalist. The charges highlight ongoing Iranian efforts to target U.S. officials on American soil.
Attorney General Merrick Garland emphasized Iran’s significant threat to U.S. national security in his statement accompanying the charging documents.
“There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department has charged an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump.”
“The charges announced today expose Iran’s continued brazen attempts to target U.S. citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump, other government leaders and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray in a separate statement. “The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — a designated foreign terrorist organization — has been conspiring with criminals and hitmen to target and gun down Americans on U.S. soil and that simply won’t be tolerated.”
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