US charges Iranian man over alleged plot to assassinate Donald Trump
Washington DC/IBNS: The United States Justice department has charged an Iranian man in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate US president-elect Donald Trump, media reports said.
The order was reportedly issued by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Corp.
In a statement as quoted by Reuters, the department said that the Iranian man, Farhad Shakeri, had informed law enforcement "that he was tasked on October 7, 2024, with providing a plan to kill" Trump.
Shakeri allegedly told law enforcement he had no plans to formulate a plot to kill Trump within the IRGC's timeline.
The department said Shakeri, 51, was an IRGC asset residing in Tehran.
He immigrated to the US as a child and was deported in or about 2008 following a robbery conviction. He is believed to be in Iran, the prosecutors said.
Two New York residents whom Shakeri had met in prison, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathan Loadholt, have also been charged for helping him plot to kill a US citizen of Iranian origin in New York, who was described to be an outspoken critic of Iran's government and had previously been targeted for murder.
Rivera and Loadholt have both been ordered detained pending trial. Their lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Reuters reported.
Donald Trump survived two assassination attempts during campaign for the US presidential race