A major assassination plot targeting President-elect Donald Trump has been interrupted by the U.S. Justice Department.
According to Fox News, details reveal that this plan, directed by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, intended to eliminate Trump and curb criticism from U.S.-based detractors of the Iranian regime.
In a surprising revelation by the Justice Department, a criminal complaint filed in federal court in New York outlines Iran's orchestrated efforts to compromise U.S. security. Spearheading the operation was an unnamed official from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who guided Farhad Shakeri, a 51-year-old former U.S. resident believed to be in Iran, to plot the assassination.
Pertinent court documents have disclosed that Farhad Shakeri was ordered to survey and design execution plans against Donald J. Trump. According to the Justice Department, Shakeri confessed to receiving a directive on October 7, 2024, to produce a detailed plan.
In addition, two New Yorkers, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Loadholt, have been implicated in a concurrent plan to murder Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American journalist and critic of the Iranian regime. Their operations included extensive surveillance under Shakeri’s instructions, aiming for a payment of $100,000 upon the successful execution of the journalist.
Attorney General Merrick Garland highlighted the multi-faceted threat posed by Iran. “There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran,” he stated, emphasizing the severity of the plots masterminded against U.S. citizens and its national security.
The criminal complaint further accuses Farhad Shakeri of coordinating directly with Rivera and Loadholt, facilitating their surveillance, and providing operational guidance for the assassination attempts. This operation was not only limited to U.S. grounds as Shakeri had also been contracted to target Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka and assassinate two Jewish American residents in New York City for a sum of $500,000.
Both Rivera and Loadholt, if convicted of murder-for-hire and conspiracy, face significant prison terms ranging from 10 to 20 years for each charge, alongside additional counts of money laundering.
Moreover, Shakeri faces severe penalties under various U.S. legal provisions. These include conspiring to provide and providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and igniting violations against the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sanctions linked to Iran.
Attorney General Merrick Garland articulated the commitment of the U.S. government in foiling such lethal interventions. “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,” Garland explained.
The attorney general also stressed the resolve of U.S. authorities to neutralize threats on American soil. “We will not stand for the Iranian regime’s attempts to endanger the American people and America’s national security,” he added.
The targeted journalist had been under close watch by her assailants. In one intercepted communication, Shakeri cautioned Rivera regarding the operational approach:
Victim-1 spent most of her time in specific areas of her home and to "just gotta have patience … You gotta wait and have patience to catch her either going in the house or coming out, or following her out somewhere and taking care of it. Don’t think about going in. In is a suicide move," which underscores his detailed involvement in the plot.
The arrest and charges against Shakeri and his associates unequivocally demonstrate a focused and decisive action by U.S. legal and security forces against international terrorism and domestically executed foreign plots.
