The Justice Department revealed on Friday that federal charges have been filed against three individuals in connection with a thwarted Iranian plot to assassinate former President Donald Trump before the 2020 presidential election.
According to court documents, Iranian officials approached Farhad Shakeri in September and instructed him to surveil and carry out the assassination of Trump. Shakeri, who is currently evading authorities in Iran, was allegedly tasked with formulating a plan to kill the former president.
In a newly disclosed plot, two other individuals, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Loadholt, were arrested in New York for allegedly assisting the Iranian government in surveilling a US citizen of Iranian descent. The pair appeared in court recently and are being held in custody pending trial.
Prosecutors claim that Shakeri, who engaged in recorded conversations with law enforcement, was initially assigned by the IRGC to conduct assassinations of American and Israeli citizens within the US. However, in September, IRGC officials directed Shakeri to focus solely on targeting Trump, giving him a seven-day deadline to devise an assassination strategy.
Shakeri informed investigators that if he failed to meet the deadline, the IRGC planned to postpone the operation until after the election, anticipating Trump's defeat. This indictment represents another alleged assassination attempt on Trump by the Iranian regime, following concerns raised by the US government regarding potential retaliation for the killing of Gen. Qasem Soleimani in a 2020 drone strike.
