US Charges Iranian Man in Alleged Trump Assassination Plot

The United States has charged an Iranian man, Farhad Shakeri, linked to a purported plan organized by Iran's Revolutionary Guards to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump. Shakeri informed law enforcement of his task to create an assassination plan, yet he did not intend to follow through. He remains at large.

The United States charged an Iranian national, Farhad Shakeri, on Friday in a suspected scheme orchestrated by Iran's Revolutionary Guards to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump, according to the Department of Justice.

Shakeri is said to have been ordered on October 7, 2024, to devise a plan to kill Trump. He reportedly told authorities that he did not plan to fulfill the order in the timeframe specified by the IRGC. Iranian officials, led by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei, dismissed the allegations as an 'unsavory' plot devised by Israel and Iranian exiles to hinder U.S.-Iranian relations.

Described as a 51-year-old Revolutionary Guard asset living in Tehran, Shakeri was arrested in the U.S. for a robbery before being deported around 2008. He remains at large in Iran. Two associates from his prison time, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathan Loadholt, were also implicated in a plot to murder an Iranian-American critic of the Iranian government.

(With inputs from agencies.)