US Accuses Iranian Man of Plot to Assassinate Donald Trump

The US Department of Justice has charged an Iranian national, Farhad Shakeri, 51, in connection with an alleged plan to assassinate Donald Trump before he could be re-elected president. The indictment, unsealed on Friday, accuses Shakeri of being tasked with developing a surveillance and assassination plan for Trump, directed by an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official last September.

Shakeri, who remains at large and is believed to be in Iran, allegedly indicated that he could not present a viable plan to execute the plot within the timeframe the Iranian officials wanted. Consequently, the Revolutionary Guard decided to delay their plans, anticipating that Trump would lose the election and be more vulnerable afterward, according to the indictment.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland stated, “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.”

Additionally, the DOJ charged two other men, Carlisle Rivera (“Pop”), 49, from Brooklyn, and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, from Staten Island, who were allegedly recruited in a separate scheme to assassinate an American journalist critical of Iran.