US indicts Iranian man accused of plotting to kill Trump before election
Agency
09/11/2024
The United States has charged an Iranian man in connection with a plot allegedly directed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump before the Presidential Election. - AP photo
WASHINGTON: The United States (US) has charged an Iranian man in connection with a plot allegedly directed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to kill President-elect Donald Trump before the Presidential Election, the country's Justice Department said on Friday.
In a statement released, the department said, Farhad Shakeri had told law enforcement that he was instructed on October 7, 2024 to prepare a plan to kill Trump.
Shakeri also allegedly told authorities he had no intention of planning Trump's assassination within the time frame set by the IRGC.
The department, however, stressed that Shakeri, 51, has not yet been arrested and that he is considered an IRGC asset who is believed to be still at large and is in Tehran, Iran.
He allegedly immigrated to the US as a child and was deported around 2008 after being convicted of robbery.
Two New Yorkers Shakeri met in prison, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathan Loadholt, were also charged with helping Shakeri plan to kill a US citizen of Iranian descent in New York, described as a vocal critic of the Iranian government who had previously been targeted for assassination.
Prosecutors did not name the target, but it matched the testimony of Masih Alinejad, a journalist and activist who criticized the headscarf law for women in Iran.
Four Iranians were charged in 2021 in connection with a plot to kidnap him and in 2022 a man was arrested with a gun outside his home.
Rivera and Loadholt were ordered held pending trial. - Agency
