NEW YORK, November 9, 2024 — U.S. prosecutors have unveiled charges related to an alleged Iranian plot targeting former President Donald Trump and a prominent Iranian-American dissident journalist.
The Justice Department accused the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a powerful branch of Iran’s military, of orchestrating the plot against Trump in retaliation for the 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed General Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian commander.
The charges identify Farhad Shakeri, a 51-year-old Afghan national believed to be in Iran, as the mastermind behind the scheme to assassinate Trump.
The indictment also accuses Shakeri and two other individuals—Carlisle Rivera, 49, and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, both of New York—of planning to kill the Iranian-American journalist in New York.
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Rivera and Loadholt have been arrested and appeared in federal court in New York on Thursday. However, Shakeri remains at large, reportedly in Iran, where he is believed to be coordinating the plot.
In response to the charges, Iran’s foreign ministry dismissed the allegations, labeling them “totally unfounded.” Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei stated that Tehran rejected any claims that it had been involved in assassination attempts against U.S. officials or dissidents.
FBI Director Christopher Wray condemned the alleged plot, emphasizing that the charges highlight Iran’s ongoing efforts to target U.S. citizens, including political figures and critics of the Iranian regime.
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This is not the first assassination attempt on Trump this year. The former president, who was elected for a second term earlier this week, survived a shooting incident during a campaign rally in which a bullet grazed his ear.
The Justice Department’s announcement underscores growing tensions between the U.S. and Iran, especially following the killing of Soleimani in 2020, which significantly escalated relations between the two countries.