An operative working for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps told federal investigators he was tasked in September with “surveilling, and, ultimately, killing” President-elect Donald Trumpaccording to court records unsealed Monday.
Prosecutors said Farhad Shakeri, believed to be living in Iran, told investigators in a phone interview that an unnamed IRGC official had pushed him to plan an attack on Mr. Trump last month. If the plan does not come together in time, Iranian officials directed Shakeri to delay the plot until after the presidential election because the official “assessed that (Mr. Trump) would lost the election“Charging documents disclosed.
Shakeri and two individuals living in the US – Carlisle Rivera from Brooklyn, New York; and Jonathon Loadholt of Staten Island — were charged as part of an Iranian-backed plot to allegedly monitor and eventually kill individuals in the US who opposed the Iranian regime.
FBI investigators wrote that Shakeri immigrated to the US as a child of Iranbut was deported in 2008 after serving more than ten years in prison on robbery charges. He said the IRGC eventually used Shakeri to recruit criminal contacts in the US to carry out special operations such as targeting unnamed Iranian American journalists and activists living in New York.
In February, prosecutors alleged Shakeri paid Rivera and Loadholt about $1,000 to monitor the activist — who has spoken out against the Iranian regime — at an event at Fairfield University in Connecticut. The surveillance operation continued into March, according to court documents, when the pair allegedly made several trips to the activist’s Brooklyn home. Text messages, security camera footage and cell site location data show numerous trips.
“On or about April 1, 2024, 9 SHAKERI and RIVERA exchanged voice notes discussing RIVERA’s and LOADHOLT’s efforts to locate and kill” an Iranian-American, court records state.
“This b**** is hard to catch, bro,” Rivera told Shakeri. “There will be nothing easy to pull up, unless there is luck of the draw.”
According to court records, Shakeri allegedly responded later, “you just have to be patient and don’t, kicking, kicking the door is not an option because it’s a failure, it’s a failure maneuver. You have to wait and be patient to catch him. enter the house or go out, or follow him to anywhere and take care of it. Don’t even think about going in.
Investigators searched online accounts belonging to Rivera and Loadholt in the course of the federal probe and found many images of firearms and other weapons.
In April, Shakeri agreed to pay Rivera and Loadholt $100,000 to “get the job done” and said they had been commissioned by the IRGC to hire individuals to kill the journalists. And in July, according to charging documents, the Iranians grew impatient, instructing US assets to “take care.”
The plan to kill the activist was unsuccessful.
Rivera and Loadholt are not accused of being part of a plot to target Mr. Trump. He made an initial appearance in federal court on Thursday and was ordered held, according to the Justice Department. Shakeri remains at large.
“We will not stand for the Iranian regime’s efforts to endanger the American people and America’s national security,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
The charges announced on Friday are not the first to be brought against IRGC officials who are suspected of plotting kill Mr. Trump. Earlier this year, the FBI arrested Asif Merchant for plotting to kill US government officials, including the presidential candidate. Merchant remains in custody and has pleaded not guilty.
On at least five occasions between September and November, Shakeri participated in “voluntary telephonic interviews with FBI agents” in exchange for a reduced sentence for more time serving the individual in the US, court records said.
During the interview, he allegedly told the FBI about the IRGC’s desire to kill Iranian American activists and target Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka in a mass shooting event. Shakeri also told investigators that the IRGC tasked him with monitoring two Jewish Americans living in New York, but that he did not inform Iranian officials about the unnamed target.
During the interview, Shakeri also allegedly told the FBI about efforts to target Mr. Trump.
In a statement, FBI Director Christopher Wray said, “The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – a designated foreign terrorist organization – has conspired with criminals and assassins to target and shoot Americans on US soil and that will not be tolerated.”
The accusations and accusations announced on Friday are part of the posture of US intelligence and law enforcement to draw public attention to Iran’s alleged efforts to silence dissidents on US soil and target US government figures after the killing of IRGC General Qasem Soleimani by American forces in 2020. Mr. Trump and former members of his administration have been forced in recent years to increase security because of the threat.
The Justice Department has indicted many other defendants in recent years acting on behalf of Iran by targeting outspoken dissidents living in the US.
Attorneys for Rivera and Loadholt were not immediately identified.
