Reuters reports that the FBI recently thwarted a planned assassination attempt on newly elected President Donald Trump, which was intended to take place just days before the U.S. presidential election. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official allegedly directed Farhad Shakeri to monitor and eventually kill the Republican candidate.
Reports indicate that this assassination plot was developed as early as September. The Iranian official, confident of Trump’s anticipated election loss, instructed Shakeri to carry out the plan after the election if necessary, assuming that Trump’s security would be reduced post-election. However, Shakeri reportedly assured the FBI that he had no intention of following through with the assassination.
Iran International suggests that Shakeri is currently residing in Iran, while two alleged accomplices are detained in New York. These individuals are also accused of planning an attack on an Iranian dissident journalist in the United States.
Shakeri, a former U.S. resident who was deported in 2008 after serving a prison sentence, reportedly leveraged contacts from his time in prison to find individuals willing to carry out missions for the Revolutionary Guard.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland expressed concern over the threat posed by Iran to prominent American figures, stating, “Today’s charges expose Iran’s persistent and brazen attempts targeting U.S. citizens and dissidents critical of the Tehran regime.”