Three individuals have been charged in connection with several alleged Iran-linked murder plots, including one targeting President-elect Donald Trump.
Farhad Shakeri, Carlisle Rivera, and Jonathan Loadholt face charges of murder-for-hire. Rivera and Loadholt are in custody, while Shakeri, linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is believed to be in Tehran.
The plot was reportedly orchestrated by the IRGC to avenge the death of General Qassem Soleimani, killed by a U.S. drone strike in 2020.
Shakeri, who was previously deported from the U.S., allegedly hired Rivera and Loadholt to target an Iranian-American activist in Brooklyn, which authorities believe is Masih Alinejad, a journalist critical of the Iranian government.
The plot also involved attempts to target U.S. and Israeli citizens, including Trump and two Jewish-American individuals in New York.
According to the complaint, Shakeri was instructed to focus on assassinating Trump, even after expressing concerns about the cost.
The IRGC planned to pause the assassination until after the 2024 election.
U.S. officials condemned the plot, emphasizing that Iran continues to target American citizens, both domestically and abroad, and vowed to relentlessly pursue those responsible for such threats.
