By Samuel Abasiekong-Abasiekong
The United States Department of Justice has charged an Iranian man in connection with an alleged plot ordered by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – IRGC to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump before he is sworn-in to be the 47th President of the United States of America, the Justice Department said on Friday.
The plot is coordinated by three suspects which are: Farhad Shakeri, 51, an Iranian national, Carlisle Rivera, 49, and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, both residing in New York. Rivera and Loadholt were taken into custody in Brooklyn and Staten Island, respectively, while Shakeri remains at large in Iran.
In a statement, the Department of Justice said Farhad Shakeri had informed law enforcement “that he was tasked on October 7, 2024, with providing a plan to kill” Trump.
In other hands, Shakeri allegedly told law enforcement he had no plans to formulate to kill Trump within the IRGC’s timeline.
According to SituationReport, Attorney General Merrick Garland described Iran as a “grave threat to U.S. national security,” underscoring the danger posed by Iranian operatives leveraging a criminal network to execute Tehran’s assassination directives.
According to Garland, Shakeri allegedly coordinated a scheme involving Rivera and Loadholt to locate and assassinate a U.S. resident critical of the Iranian regime.
Court documents reveal that the plot to silence the target, known as Victim-1, extended over several months. Rivera and Loadholt allegedly received extensive instructions from Shakeri, including plans to surveil Victim-1’s residence and routine locations. Shakeri, a reported asset of Iran’s IRGC, allegedly communicated through encrypted messages with his co-defendants, encouraging patience to ambush the target.
FBI Director Christopher Wray warned Iran’s “brazen attempts” to target U.S. citizens and dissidents critical of Tehran, noting that the IRGC, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. in 2019, has been implicated in prior plots on American soil.
Wray credited U.S. intelligence and law enforcement for thwarting this plot and reaffirmed the FBI’s resolve to protect Americans from Iran’s international assassination efforts.
In recent statements, Shakeri allegedly admitted that the IRGC tasked him with formulating plans to kill Trump and surveil Jewish-American targets in New York.
He claimed that the IRGC offered him up to $500,000 to murder Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka, further illustrating Iran’s extensive reach in directing attacks against perceived enemies abroad.
Shakeri faces multiple counts, including conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, alongside charges of murder-for-hire and money laundering.
