FBI thwarts Iranian murder-for-hire plan targeting US President-elect Donald Trump; 3 people charged
The plot, announced by the Justice Department just days after Trump’s victory for a second term in the White House, is part ongoing efforts by Iran to target US government officials, including Trump, on US soil, said officials.
- Nov 9, 2024,
- Updated Nov 9, 2024 11:38 AM IST
The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) thwarted an Iranian plot to assassinate Donald Trump, the Department of Justice said on November 9 as it charged an Iranian national and arrested two American citizens for involvement in a plot to murder the Republican president-elect.
FBI charged Farhad Shakeri, 51, an asset of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who is believed to reside in Iran.
Two individuals, Carlisle Rivera, 49, and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, were arrested from Brooklyn and Staten Island in New York on November 8.
Investigators were told of the plan to kill Trump by Farhad Shakeri, an accused Iranian government asset, who spent time in US prisons and maintains a network of criminal associates enlisted by Tehran for surveillance and murder-for-hire plots.
Shakeri told the FBI that a contact in IRGC instructed him in September to set aside other work he was doing and assemble a plan within seven days to survey and ultimately kill Trump, according to a criminal complaint in federal court in Manhattan, according to a report from AP.
Shakeri, who was deported to Iran in 2008 after serving 14 years in prison for a robbery conviction, said he was also instructed to survey two Jewish American citizens in New York City and was offered $500,000 by an IRGC official to kill either of them.
Shakeri is at large and remains in Iran. Two others were arrested on charges that Shakeri recruited them to follow and kill prominent Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, who has endured multiple Iranian murder-for-hire plots foiled by law enforcement.
The plot, announced by the Justice Department just days after Trump’s victory for a second term in the White House, is part ongoing efforts by Iran to target US government officials, including Trump, on US soil, said officials. Earlier this year, the Justice Department charged a Pakistani man with ties to Iran in a murder-for-hire plot targeting American officials, the AP report added.
Iran opposed Trump’s re-election and sees him as more likely to increase tension between Washington and Tehran. The earlier Trump administration had ended a nuclear deal with Iran, reimposed sanctions and ordered the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, an act that prompted Iran’s leaders to call for revenge.
A Trump’s spokesman Steven Cheung said the president-elect was aware of the assassination plot and nothing will deter him “from returning to the White House and restoring peace around the world.”
(With inputs from agencies)
The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) thwarted an Iranian plot to assassinate Donald Trump, the Department of Justice said on November 9 as it charged an Iranian national and arrested two American citizens for involvement in a plot to murder the Republican president-elect.
FBI charged Farhad Shakeri, 51, an asset of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who is believed to reside in Iran.
Two individuals, Carlisle Rivera, 49, and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, were arrested from Brooklyn and Staten Island in New York on November 8.
Investigators were told of the plan to kill Trump by Farhad Shakeri, an accused Iranian government asset, who spent time in US prisons and maintains a network of criminal associates enlisted by Tehran for surveillance and murder-for-hire plots.
Shakeri told the FBI that a contact in IRGC instructed him in September to set aside other work he was doing and assemble a plan within seven days to survey and ultimately kill Trump, according to a criminal complaint in federal court in Manhattan, according to a report from AP.
Shakeri, who was deported to Iran in 2008 after serving 14 years in prison for a robbery conviction, said he was also instructed to survey two Jewish American citizens in New York City and was offered $500,000 by an IRGC official to kill either of them.
Shakeri is at large and remains in Iran. Two others were arrested on charges that Shakeri recruited them to follow and kill prominent Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, who has endured multiple Iranian murder-for-hire plots foiled by law enforcement.
The plot, announced by the Justice Department just days after Trump’s victory for a second term in the White House, is part ongoing efforts by Iran to target US government officials, including Trump, on US soil, said officials. Earlier this year, the Justice Department charged a Pakistani man with ties to Iran in a murder-for-hire plot targeting American officials, the AP report added.
Iran opposed Trump’s re-election and sees him as more likely to increase tension between Washington and Tehran. The earlier Trump administration had ended a nuclear deal with Iran, reimposed sanctions and ordered the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, an act that prompted Iran’s leaders to call for revenge.
A Trump’s spokesman Steven Cheung said the president-elect was aware of the assassination plot and nothing will deter him “from returning to the White House and restoring peace around the world.”
(With inputs from agencies)