DOJ Brings Criminal Charges in Thwarted Iranian Plot to Kill Donald Trump

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed criminal charges on Friday against a man who Iran tasked with surveilling and plotting to kill President-elect Donald Trump before the presidential election.

Farhad Shakeri, a 51-year-old residing in Tehran, told law enforcement that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)—a paramilitary that the U.S. deems a terrorist organization—tasked him on October 7 with “providing a plan to kill” Trump, according to a press release issued by the DOJ on Friday.

“Shakeri claimed he did not intend to propose a plan to kill Trump within the timeframe set by the IRGC,” the release read.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi subsequently denied the U.S.’s allegations.

Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, told Newsweek via email Friday afternoon, “President-Elect Trump is aware of the attempted assassination plot by the Iranian terrorist regime. Nothing will deter President Trump from returning to the White House and restoring peace around the world.”

When reached for comment by Newsweek on Friday afternoon, the DOJ referred to its press release. Newsweek has also reached out to the Iranian Mission to the United Nations for comment.

In response to previous allegations of an Iran-linked assassination plot against Trump uncovered by media reports in July, the Iranian Mission told Newsweek “these accusations are unsubstantiated and malicious.”

“From the perspective of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Trump is a criminal who must be prosecuted and punished in a court of law for ordering the assassination of General Soleimani,” the Iranian Mission said. “Iran has chosen the legal path to bring him to justice.”

What Was Farhad Shakeri Charged With?

The information regarding the IRGC tasking Shakeri with an assassination plot against Trump was part of a broader job from Iran’s paramilitary for Shakeri to carry out assassinations against U.S. and Israeli citizens in America.

The charges filed against Shakeri were in connection with his alleged involvement in a plot to murder a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin in New York who has publicly opposed the Iranian government. Shakeri allegedly employed Carlisle Rivers, a 49-year-old from Brooklyn and Jonathon Loadholt, a 36-year-old from Staten Island to surveil and murder the U.S. citizen.

Shakeri, Rivera and Loadholt have all been charged with murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and money laundering conspiracy. Shakeri has also been charged with conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sanctions against the Government of Iran.

Rivera and Loadholt were arrested and made their initial appearancse in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday. In court, the two were ordered to be detained pending trial. Shakeri, meanwhile, remains at large.

‘Big Threats’ on Trump’s Life From Iran

In September, Trump said there were “big threats” on his life from Iran after he was briefed by U.S. intelligence on alleged assassination plans.

“Big threats on my life by Iran. The entire U.S. Military is watching and waiting. Moves were already made by Iran that didn’t work out, but they will try again. Not a good situation for anyone. I am surrounded by more men, guns, and weapons than I have ever seen before,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform on September 25.

Trump’s election campaign said at the time that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence had briefed the former president on September 24 on the “real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States.”

“Intelligence officials have identified that these continued and coordinated attacks have heightened in the past few months, and law enforcement officials across all agencies are working to ensure President Trump is protected and the election is free from interference,” said Cheung at the time.

He added: “Make no mistake, the terror regime in Iran loves the weakness of [Vice President] Kamala Harris, and is terrified of the strength and resolve of President Trump. He will let nothing stop him or get in his way to fight for the American people and to ‘Make America great again.'”

Trump Wins 2024 Presidential Election

Trump, the Republican nominee, was declared the winner of the presidency by The Associated Press (AP) early Wednesday morning when he pushed over the required threshold of 270 Electoral College votes.

Trump gave a victory speech early Wednesday morning at the Palm Beach Convention Center in Florida, hours before the AP declared him the winner, in which he said he “will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve,” calling his upcoming second term “the golden age of America.”

Past Trump Assassination Attempts

On July 13, Trump was struck by a bullet that pierced his right ear at an outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, by 20-year-old shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, who fired rounds off a nearby roof. Crooks was then killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper.

About two months later, the former president was victim to a second assassination attempt while golfing.

Ryan Routh was arrested on September 15 after being found with a firearm at Trump International Golf Club. Routh never fired the gun at Trump, but Secret Service agents fired at him as he pointed his rifle toward the West Palm Beach golf course in Florida.

U.S.-Iran Relations

The U.S. severed diplomatic relations with Iran in April 1980 as a result of the Iranian hostage crisis, in which a group of Iranian students took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran and seized 66 hostages. It took 444 days—from November 4, 1979 to January 21, 1981—for all the hostages to be set free.

The DOJ said in Friday’s press release that the Iranian government “is actively targeting nationals of the United States and its allies living in countries around the world for attacks, including assault, kidnapping, and murder.”

Iran is targeting these individuals “both to repress and silence dissidents critical of the Iranian regime and to take vengeance for the January 2020 death of then-Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force (IRGC-QF), Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad.”

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.

Update 11/08/24 1:00 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to include more information.

Update 11/08/24 1:49 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to include more information.

Update 11/14/24 6:07 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to include more information.