US prosecutors recently unveiled charges in connection with an alleged plot by Iran to assassinate former President Donald Trump and a prominent Iranian-American journalist. The plan, orchestrated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, aimed to seek retribution for the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a US strike ordered by Trump in 2020. Farhad Shakeri, an Afghan national believed to be in Iran, was assigned by the IRGC to devise a plan to eliminate Trump. Additionally, two other individuals, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Loadholt, both from New York, were charged separately for plotting to kill an Iranian-American dissident in New York.
Rivera and Loadholt are currently in US custody, with Rivera and Loadholt appearing in a New York court on Thursday. FBI Director Christopher Wray condemned the charges, highlighting Iran’s ongoing efforts to target US citizens, government officials, and critics of the Tehran regime. Earlier this year, Trump also faced two other assassination attempts, one of which occurred during a campaign rally.
Shakeri, described as an “IRGC asset residing in Tehran,” immigrated to the US as a child but was deported in 2008 after serving time for robbery. The Justice Department revealed that Shakeri had utilized a network of criminal contacts from his time in the US to provide the IRGC with operatives for surveillance and assassination missions.
Loadholt and Rivera, under Shakeri’s direction, conducted extensive surveillance on an outspoken Iranian-American critic of the regime, believed to be dissident journalist Masih Alinejad. In a separate incident, a Revolutionary Guards general was charged by US prosecutors for a plot to assassinate Alinejad, who resides in New York.
According to the criminal complaint, Shakeri disclosed the assassination plot involving Trump to FBI agents in hopes of securing a reduced sentence for an imprisoned associate. The plan involved a significant financial investment, to which the IRGC official responded that money was not a concern. The official instructed Shakeri to devise a plan to eliminate Trump within seven days, suggesting that failing to do so before the election would make the assassination easier post-election.
The US has repeatedly accused Iran of targeting American officials in retaliation for past events, an accusation that Tehran has denied. Earlier this year, a Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran pleaded not guilty in New York for attempting to hire a hitman to kill a US politician or official. Additionally, the State Department offered a $20 million reward for information leading to the capture of the Iranian mastermind behind a plot to assassinate former White House official John Bolton.