New York – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has successfully disrupted a plot to assassinate President Donald Trump who won the 2024 US Presidential elections last Tuesday, allegedly orchestrated by an Iranian government asset, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Friday.
The Justice Department announced charges against three individuals involved in the alleged murder-for-hire scheme, highlighting the ongoing and significant security threats faced by high-profile figures, even after leaving office.
The unsealed complaint details a chilling plot directed by an unnamed official within Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The plot centred around Farhad Shakeri, an Afghan national described by officials as an Iranian government asset who was deported from the US after serving time for robbery. Shakeri, who is believed to be currently residing in Iran, is alleged to have been tasked with surveilling and ultimately assassinating President Trump.
In mid-to-late September, Shakeri revealed to the FBI that the IRGC official instructed him to "put aside his other efforts" and "focus on surveilling, and ultimately, assassinating former President of the United States Donald J. Trump." The urgency of the mission was underscored by the IRGC official's statement: "we have already spent a lot of money … so the money's not an issue."
The timeframe for the assassination was incredibly tight. According to the complaint, Shakeri was given a seven-day deadline to devise and execute a plan to kill President Trump. The urgency of this deadline, coupled with the significant financial resources allegedly made available, points to the seriousness with which the Iranian government pursued this plot.
The complaint further reveals that the IRGC’s plan was contingent on the outcome of the US presidential election. Shakeri told the FBI that if the assassination could not be completed within the seven-day timeframe, the IRGC would postpone their plan until after the election, believing that a post-election assassination would be easier to execute. This suggests a calculated attempt to exploit any potential political instability following the election.
The alleged plot against President Trump was not an isolated incident. Shakeri also allegedly received instructions to target other individuals, including a prominent Iranian-American journalist (believed to be Masih Alinejad, a vocal critic of the Iranian government who has been the target of multiple assassination plots), and two Jewish-American citizens residing in New York City. He was reportedly offered $500,000 for the murder of either of the New York victims. The complaint also alleges that Shakeri was tasked with targeting Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka.
The Justice Department has charged Shakeri, along with two other men, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathan Loadholt, with murder-for-hire. Rivera and Loadholt have been arrested, while Shakeri remains at large in Iran. The charges underscore the seriousness with which the US government views these threats and its determination to bring those responsible to justice.
Attorney General Merrick Garland emphasised the gravity of the situation in a statement: "There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States 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 J. Trump."
