AN Iranian agent has been charged with plotting to kill Donald Trump in an assassination that would have shaken the world.
US prosecutors say the rogue state told ex-con Farhad Shakeri — said to be hiding in Tehran — to devise a seven-day plan to spy on and murder him.
ReutersAn Iranian agent has been charged with plotting to kill Donald Trump in an assassination that would have shaken the world[/caption]
GettyIran told ex-con Farhad Shakeri to devise a seven-day plan to spy on and murder Trump – pictured the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei[/caption]
US District CourtThe arsenal of weapons one of the accused Iranian operatives, Carlisle Rivera, allegedly possessed[/caption]
Afghan national Shakeri came to the US as a child and served 14 years for a robbery before he was deported in 2008.
The US government said Shakeri has not been arrested and was believed to be in Tehran, though he has spoken five times to the FBI over the phone.
In a criminal complaint filed in a New York court last night, prosecutors say an official in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards directed Shakeri to devise a plan to surveil and eliminate Trump.
They claim the planned hit was an attempt to take vengeance for a US drone strike ordered by Trump that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, then said to be the world’s No1 terrorist, in 2020.
The Justice Department has also charged two US men allegedly recruited to kill a journalist critic of Iran.
Carlisle Rivera, also known as “Pop”, 49, from Brooklyn, and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, from Staten Island, knew Shakeri from prison.
They appeared in a New York court on Thursday.
Revealing the decision to charge Shakeri, Attorney General Merrick Garland said last night: “There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the US as does Iran.
“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.”
FBI chief Christopher Wray added: “The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been conspiring with criminals and hitmen to target and gun down Americans on US soil, and that simply won’t be tolerated.
“Thanks to the hard work of the FBI, their deadly schemes were disrupted.”
In interviews with the FBI, Shakeri said he met a senior member of the IRGC through his job in Iran’s oil industry.
When the official learned Shakeri had lived in New York, he asked for help investigating individuals in the US, it is claimed.
Shakeri said he met the official more than a dozen times at restaurants.
Prosecutors said Shakeri was originally told to carry out killings against Iranian targets in the US.
He claims on October 7 — the anniversary of the terror attack in Israel by Iran-backed Hamas — he was told to focus just on Trump.
Shakeri was asked to come up with a plan to kill him in seven days, the indictment alleges.
According to prosecutors, Mr Shakeri told law enforcement that he did not intend to propose a scheme within the seven days, so the IRGC officials paused the plan.
Shakeri said the Iranian government told him it would be easier to try to kill Trump after Tuesday’s election, because they believed he would lose, prosecutors said.
Trump’s staff previously said the FBI had foiled the plot but stressed it was unrelated to two assassination attempts during the campaign.
Trump’s staff requested unprecedented levels of extra security including a ballistic glass shield at rallies in swing states.
In late September, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “Big threats on my life by Iran.
“Moves were already made by Iran that didn’t work out, but they will try again.
“Not a good situation for anyone.
“I am surrounded by more men, guns, and weapons than I have ever seen before….
“An attack on a former President is a Death Wish for the attacker!”
EPAThe Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp ‘told Shakeri to make a kill plan’[/caption]
US Department Of JusticeA Smith & Wesson .380 pistol seized by the FBI[/caption]
US Department Of JusticeAnother weapon taken by US intelligence[/caption]
Prosecutors also say Shakeri promised Rivera and Loadholt $100,000 to murder Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, who had criticised the regime of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
While attempting to locate her, Shakeri, Loadholt and Rivera shared messages about their progress and photos were later seized by the FBI, it is claimed.
Prosecutors say that in February, Rivera and Loadholt traded texts about payments from Shakeri before travelling to Fairfield University in Conneticut.
In one voice note, Shakeri told Rivera that Victim-1 spent most of her time in specific rooms.
He allegedly said: “You just gotta have patience to catch her either going in the house or coming out, or following her out somewhere and taking care of it.
“Don’t think about going in.
“In is a suicide move.”
In another voice note Rivera said: “This b***h is hard to catch, bro.
“And because she hard to catch, there ain’t gonna be no simple pull up, unless there’s the luck of the draw.”
On Thursday a judge remanded Rivera and Loadholt in custody pending a criminal trial.
It does not appear the pair were directly involved in the plot against Trump.
Shakeri is also said to have been offered £385,000 to kill two Jewish Americans in New York City.
And he is said to have told cops an IRGC chief wanted him to target Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka on the anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack.
Shakeri, Rivera, and Loadholt were all charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
They also face counts of money laundering conspiracy, which could lead to 20 years in prison, and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire.
News of the plot came hours after sources in Trump’s transition team said the President-elect would apply maximum pressure on Iran.
APIran claims the planned hit was an attempt to take vengeance for a US drone strike ordered by Trump that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani[/caption]
GettyTrump has been the target in several assassination attempts in 2024[/caption]
APIn late September, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: ‘Big threats on my life by Iran’[/caption]
Trump also tweeted about the plot
US District CourtIranian operative Farhad Shakeri allegedly used his criminal network to tap two New Yorkers to conduct surveillance and assassination operations on behalf of Iran[/caption]
US District CourtA text exchange between Rivera and Loadholt, according to federal investigators[/caption]