US Justice Department announces federal charges against three people in thwarted Iranian plot to kill president-elect Donald Trump before the election.

The US Justice Department on Friday announced federal charges against three people in a thwarted Iranian plot to kill president-elect Donald Trump before this week’s presidential election.

Court documents cited by CNN said that Iranian officials asked one of the men charged, Farhad Shakeri, in September to focus on surveilling and ultimately assassinating Trump. Shakeri is still at large in Iran, the Justice Department said.

According to prosecutors, Shakeri, who had recorded conversations with law enforcement, was initially assigned by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to carry out other assassinations of US and Israeli citizens within the United States.

However, on October 7, IRGC officials instructed Shakeri to focus solely on Trump and gave him seven days to develop an assassination plan, according to CNN.

Shakeri reportedly told investigators that if he couldn’t devise a plan within the given timeframe, the IRGC would postpone their actions until after the presidential election, believing that Trump might lose.

The other two individuals facing charges, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Loadholt—both American citizens—were arrested in New York. They are accused of aiding the Iranian government by surveilling another US citizen of Iranian origin. The Justice Department stated that they made their initial court appearance on Thursday and are currently being held pending trial.

Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray both condemned Iran’s continued threats against individuals in the United States.

“There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran,” Garland stated. “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.”

In September, Trump’s campaign stated that he had been briefed on “real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States.”

The campaign said that “continued and coordinated attacks have heightened in the past few months” and that d “law-enforcement officials across all agencies are working to ensure President Trump is protected and the election is free from interference.”

Trump later accused Iran of engaging in “big threats” on his life, writing on his Truth Social platform, “Big threats on my life by Iran. The entire U.S. Military is watching and waiting. Moves were already made by Iran that didn’t work out, but they will try again. Not a good situation for anyone”.

He added, “I am surrounded by more men, guns, and weapons than I have ever seen before. Thank you to Congress for unanimously approving far more money to Secret Service – Zero ‘NO’ Votes, strictly bipartisan. Nice to see Republicans and Democrats get together on something. An attack on a former President is a Death Wish for the attacker!”

Iran, which has denied plotting to assassinate Trump, has in the past vowed revenge against Trump for ordering the 2020 drone strike in Baghdad which eliminated top Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Qassem Soleimani.

Iran in 2020 issued an arrest warrant against Trump and asked for Interpol’s aid in detaining him in the killing of Soleimani.

Source: