US charges Iranian man for allegedly plotting to assassinate Trump, Department of Justice says

The United States (U.S.) has charged an Iranian man on Nov. 7 for allegedly plotting to assassinate U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), 51-year-old Farhad Shakeri was instructed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Oct. 7 to provide a plan to assassinate Trump.

The plot was part of the IRGC's mission to avenge the death of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, who died in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020.

Also involved in plot to kill U.S. journalist

Shakeri, who immigrated to the U.S. as a child, was deported around 2008 after spending 14 years in prison for robbery.

He had used criminal associates he met in prison as IRGC's operatives to monitor and assassinate its targets.

The IRGC, an Iranian military and counterintelligence agency, was designated as a "foreign terrorist organisation" by the U.S. Secretary of State since Apr. 15, 2019.

According to the DOJ, Shakeri is also part of three men who are allegedly involved in a plot to murder a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin in New York.

He had worked together with Carlisle Rivera, 49, and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, to surveil a female journalist who had openly opposed the Iranian government.

Rivera and Loadholt were offered US$100,000 (S$132,560) to locate and kill her, and had spent months monitoring the journalist.

They were arrested and charged on Nov. 8.

Shakeri, Rivera, and Loadholt were charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; and money laundering conspiracy, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Allegedly plotted to kill Trump

Shakeri, who has been on the run and is believed to be in Iran, was also tasked to execute other assassinations against U.S. and Israeli citizens based in the U.S.

This includes a plan to assassinate Trump.

According to the DOJ, Shakeri said in interviews with authorities that he did not intend to propose a plan to kill Trump within the timeframe set by the IRGC.

An IRGC official had also allegedly offered him US$500,000 (S$662,800) to murder at least one of two Jewish-American citizens living in New York City, and asked to target Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka.

Shakeri was also handed three charges of conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, providing material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sanctions against the Government of Iran.

Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) New York Field Office, along with drugs and customs authorities in New York, is investigating the case.

FBI director Christopher Wray said: "The charges announced today expose Iran's continued brazen attempts to target U.S. citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump, other government leaders and dissidents who criticise the regime in Tehran. We will not stand for the Iranian regime's attempts to endanger the American people and America's national security".

Top photos via Donald J. Trump/Facebook