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Federal authorities have charged Farhad Shakeri, an alleged operative of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), along with two New York City associates in a plot to assassinate a US citizen critical of the Iranian government.
The case highlights the continued threat posed by Iran’s attempts to silence dissidents and even target top US. officials.
According to the Department of Justice criminal complaint, Shakeri, age 51, allegedly recruited New York City residents Carlisle Rivera, age 49, of Brooklyn, and Jonathon Loadholt, age 36, of Staten Island, to carry out surveillance and eventually assassinate Trump,, who has long been outspoken against the Iranian regime.
Iran has vowed to atone for the US-ordered killing Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force, an IRGC division primarily responsible for secret military operations.
After he died in a January 2020 drone strike, Iran launched missiles against US military bases in Iraq, wounding 110 American troops.
Rivera and Loadholt were arrested this week in New York, while Shakeri remains at large and believed to be in Iran.
Attorney General Merrick Garland emphasized the gravity of Iran’s threat to US security.
“The Justice Department has charged an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots,” he said.
FBI Director Christopher Wray added that the IRGC’s ongoing attempts to harm Americans on US soil “won’t be tolerated.”
The criminal complaint alleges that Shakeri promised Rivera and Loadholt $100,000 to locate and assassinate one of the targets, a woman who the DOJ did not identify by name.
Messages between the trio reveal months of surveillance and planning, including trips to monitor scheduled appearances in an April voice message,
Shakeri reportedly advised Rivera to “have patience to catch her” entering or leaving her home, adding that entering the home would be a “suicide move.”
Authorities further allege that Shakeri was also tasked with plans to assassinate Trump and two Jewish American citizens in New York.
For these additional tasks, he was reportedly offered $500,000 by the IRGC, a group designated by the US government as a foreign terrorist organization since 2019.
The Justice Department has charged Shakeri, Rivera, and Loadholt with murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and money laundering conspiracy.
Shakeri also faces charges related to supporting a foreign terrorist organization and violating US sanctions against Iran. If convicted, each could face multiple decades in prison.
This case is under investigation by the FBI, with assistance from US Customs and Border Protection and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Prosecutors from the Southern District of New York, alongside attorneys from the National Security Division, are handling the case.
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