US accuses Iran of plotting to kill Trump The US Department of Justice has announced charges against an Iranian national and two Americans for their involvement in a hit-for-hire plot to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump, along with an Iranian dissident. Storie News
Farhad Shakeri, Carlyle “Bob” Rivera and Jonathan Loadholt were named in a criminal complaint filed by the Southern District of New York on Friday. Rivera was arrested in Brooklyn and Loadholt in Staten Island. Shakeri is believed to be “residing” in Iran and remains at large.
US charges man allegedly tasked by Iran to plot Trump killing pre-election
“The charges announced today reveal Iran’s continued blatant attempts to target American citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump, other government leaders and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
Shakeri, 51, immigrated to the United States as a child but was deported in 2008 after serving 14 years in prison for theft. The Justice Department alleges that he is an asset of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who used “a network of criminal associates he met in prison” to spy on targets and plot their deaths.
Rivera, 49, and Lodolt, 36, were allegedly promised $100,000 by Shakeri to track down and kill an unidentified Iranian dissident (Victim 1).
According to the Justice Department, Shakeri gave several “recorded interviews with law enforcement agents” in which he said he was tasked by the IRGC on October 7 with presenting a plan to kill Trump.
Justice Department brings criminal charges in Iranian murder-for-hire plan targeting Donald Trump
“During the interview, Shakeri claimed that he did not intend to propose a plan to kill Trump within the time frame set by the IRGC,” the Justice Department said. It is unclear why Shakeri was not arrested.
The three men have been charged with murder-for-hire, conspiracy, and money laundering, and face up to 40 years in prison if convicted. Shakeri was also charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiring to do so, and violating U.S. sanctions on Iran, and faces up to 60 years in prison if caught and convicted.
While the Justice Department noted that the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court, Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland saw the indictment as evidence that Iran “actively targets U.S. citizens and allies living in countries around the world for attacks” in retaliation for the 2020 killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
Trump ordered the drone strike that killed Soleimani near Baghdad airport in Iraq.
DOJ announces charges in Iranian plot to kill Donald Trump
The 45th and soon-to-be 47th president of the United States survived an assassination attempt on July 13 during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The Secret Service killed the shooter, identified as 20-year-old American Thomas Crooks. Another potential assassin, Ryan Routh, was arrested in September after he ambushed a Trump-owned golf course in Florida. Neither incident has been linked to Iran. Routh had previously tried to recruit Afghan war veterans to fight for Ukraine against Russia.