Iranian plot to assassinate Trump uncovered by justice department
The Department of Justice filed federal charges on Friday against three individuals accused of planning an assassination attempt on Donald Trump. The accused were reportedly acting on behalf of an Iranian agent, and the crime was intended to take place before the presidential elections in the USA.
According to materials gathered during the investigation, in September, Iranian officials asked one of the accused men, Farhad Shakeri, to track and then kill Donald Trump. Shakeri remains at large in Iran, the Department of Justice reported.
The revealed plot marks another alleged assassination attempt on Trump's life, which was purportedly planned by the regime in Iran.
Seven days to plan the assassination
Investigators claim that Shakeri was initially tasked by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to assassinate US and Israeli citizens in the USA. However, IRGC officials instructed Shakeri on 7th October to focus solely on Trump, giving him seven days to devise a plan for the assassination.
The other two accused, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Loadholt, are US citizens. They were arrested in New York and charged with assisting the Iranian government in the surveillance of another US citizen of Iranian descent. They will remain in custody until the trial.
US concerns confirmed
In statements, both Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray condemned the persistent threats from the Iranian government towards United States citizens.
- There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran - said Garland.
The US government has repeatedly expressed concerns that Iran might attempt to retaliate for the 2020 US attack, in which General Qasem Soleimani, a high-ranking Iranian general, was killed.
Trump back in the crosshairs of assassins
This is yet another situation where suspicions have arisen about an assassination attempt on Donald Trump. In September, a man was apprehended hiding in the bushes near the fence of a golf club owned by Donald Trump, with an AK-47 rifle equipped with a telescopic sight. According to the police, he was approximately 330-550 yards from Trump. After the Secret Service fired shots, the man fled, abandoning the weapon in the bushes.
The most serious incident occurred on the 13th of July during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The Republican candidate was grazed in the ear. If the bullet had struck just a few inches differently, the attempt could have ended tragically.
