Iranian Assassination Plot: A Threat to Trump and Activists

The U.S. has charged Iranian Farhad Shakeri, linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, for plotting to assassinate Donald Trump. Shakeri, residing in Tehran, allegedly conspired with two New York residents on separate murder plans targeting a U.S. critic of Iran's government. Shakeri is believed to be in Iran.

The United States has charged an Iranian man, Farhad Shakeri, with conspiring to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump, an act allegedly ordered by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Corps, the Justice Department announced on Friday.

According to the department, Shakeri, a 51-year-old residing in Tehran, informed law enforcement that he was tasked with developing a plan to kill Trump. He allegedly expressed no intention of creating such a plan within the IRGC's timeline. Shakeri immigrated to the U.S. as a child and was deported around 2008 after a robbery conviction. He is considered at large and likely in Iran, prosecutors noted.

Additionally, two New York residents, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathan Loadholt, who met Shakeri in prison, face charges for aiding in a plot to murder a U.S. citizen of Iranian descent in New York. This individual, a vocal critic of Iran's government, reportedly matches the description of Masih Alinejad, a journalist known for opposing Iran's head-covering laws. Rivera and Loadholt await trial, while their legal representatives have yet to comment.

(With inputs from agencies.)