US DOJ: "Iran Plotted Another Assassination Attempt on Trump Before Election... Conspirators Indicted"

In September, Iran Revolutionary Guard Ordered Trump Assassination
Trump Election Campaign Also Aware of Assassination Attempt
Iran Strongly Denies, Calling It "Baseless"

U.S. investigative authorities have confirmed another assassination plot by Iran targeting President-elect Donald Trump, according to the U.S. Department of Justice and American media outlets including The New York Times (NYT) and The Washington Post (WP) on the 8th (local time).

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According to these sources, Farhad Shakeri (51), residing in Iran, received orders from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) last September to assassinate President-elect Trump. Shakeri, originally from Afghanistan, immigrated to the U.S. as a child but was deported after serving 14 years in prison for robbery. During his incarceration, he built a network of criminals which he has since used to provide operatives necessary for the assassination to the IRGC.

The IRGC instructed him to halt other activities and focus on surveilling and ultimately assassinating President-elect Trump. When Shakeri mentioned that assassinating Trump would require a huge amount of money, an IRGC official responded, "We have already spent a lot of money," adding, "Money is not an issue." The IRGC then ordered on the 7th of last month that the assassination plan be submitted within seven days, and if that was not possible, the assassination would be postponed until after the election. The IRGC official believed that Trump would lose the election, which would make the assassination easier.

The Trump transition team stated that they were aware of this assassination plot during the election period. Steven Cheung, spokesperson for the Trump presidential campaign, said, "President-elect Trump is aware of the assassination attempts by the Iranian terrorist regime," adding, "Nothing will prevent President-elect Trump from returning to the White House and restoring peace worldwide."

Iran strongly denied the allegations, calling them "completely baseless." On the 9th, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement rejecting claims that Iran was involved in assassination attempts targeting former or current U.S. officials.

Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, claimed that the allegations were a conspiracy by Israel-linked forces aiming to further complicate relations between Iran and the U.S., according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.

This is not the first time Iran has plotted to assassinate former President Trump. According to U.S. authorities, after Qasem Soleimani, an IRGC commander, was killed by a U.S. military strike during Trump’s presidency, Iran has been attempting to retaliate by assassinating Trump and other current and former high-ranking officials.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested a Pakistani national linked to the Iranian government in July on charges of plotting to assassinate former President Trump.

FBI Director Christopher Wray stated in a press release that day, "There has been a blatant and ongoing attempt by Iran targeting U.S. citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump, as well as other government leaders and dissidents critical of the Iranian regime."

The Department of Justice also charged Shakeri along with co-conspirators New York residents Carlyle Rivera (49) and Jonathon Rodholt (36) for plotting to kill an Iranian-American U.S. citizen living in New York. The DOJ explained that Rivera and Rodholt, who were promised $100,000 by Shakeri, had been surveilling the Iranian-American critic of the Iranian regime for months and continuously tracked his location with the intent to kill him.