An Iranian agent was allegedly ordered to stalk and assassinate President-elect Donald Trump before the election, according to court records.
Farhad Shakeri, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathan Loadholt have been charged with murder-for-hire, the sources said, according to documents reviewed by the Lawyer Herald. Rivera and Loadholt have been arrested, while Shakeri remains on the lam.
On Oct. 7, Shakeri was allegedly told by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps that he had seven days to concoct a plan to assassinate Trump, court documents read.
Prosecutors allege Shakeri was instructed to exact retribution for the death of IRGC Qassem Soleimani, an Iranian officer who was killed Baghdad in January 2020 during an airstrike ordered by then-President Trump, according to the complaint.
"There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran," Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement. "The Justice Department has charged an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran's assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump. We have also charged and arrested two individuals who we allege were recruited as part of that network to silence and kill, on U.S. soil, an American journalist who has been a prominent critic of the regime. We will not stand for the Iranian regime's attempts to endanger the American people and America's national security."
"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 criticize the regime in Tehran," added FBI Director Christopher Wray. "The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — a designated foreign terrorist organization — has been conspiring with criminals and hitmen to target and gun down Americans on U.S. soil and that simply won't be tolerated. Thanks to the hard work of the FBI, their deadly schemes were disrupted. We're committed to using the full resources of the FBI to protect our citizens from Iran or any other adversary who targets Americans."
Investigators believe Shakeri – who was also tasked with carrying out the assassinations of other U.S. and Israeli citizens in the U.S., as well – is hiding out in Tehran.
