The U.S. Justice Department has charged Iranian national Farhad Shakeri in an alleged plot, reportedly ordered by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump. According to the department, Shakeri disclosed to law enforcement that on October 7, 2024, he was tasked with devising a plan to kill Trump, though he claimed he did not intend to carry it out within the IRGC’s set timeline.
Shakeri, described as a 51-year-old IRGC asset living in Tehran, immigrated to the U.S. as a child but was deported around 2008 after a robbery conviction. He remains at large, believed to be in Iran.
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Additionally, two New York residents, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathan Loadholt—whom Shakeri reportedly met in prison—face charges for assisting in a plot to kill an Iranian-American critic of Iran’s government in New York. While the target remains unnamed, it aligns with the profile of activist Masih Alinejad, who has previously been targeted in alleged plots. In 2021, four Iranians faced charges in connection with a plot to kidnap her, and in 2022, a man was found outside her home with a rifle.
Both Rivera and Loadholt have been detained pending trial, and their attorneys have not yet commented on the case.
