The U.S. Department of Justice recently unsealed new charges revealing a thwarted murder-for-hire plot ordered by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps against then-President Donald Trump in the weeks leading up to the election. This information adds more pressure on the Biden administration to take action. In September, the IRGC instructed an Iranian asset to surveil and come up with a plan to assassinate Trump before the November election. Trump was briefed by U.S. intelligence officials about these threats, which were considered a top-tier national security issue by President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken stated in October that any attempts by the IRGC to harm Trump would be met with kinetic military action equal to an act of war. The IRGC, designated as a terrorist organization during Trump’s first term, had targeted Trump since January 2020 after he ordered the drone strike that killed the Quds Force commander, Qassem Soleimani. News of the thwarted assassination attempt on Trump follows two previous unrelated attempts while he was campaigning for a second term earlier in the year, prompting an increase in security by the Secret Service.
The criminal filings detailing the Iran threats led the Secret Service to strengthen security around the Trump campaign in recent months. It remains unclear how Trump plans to further enhance security at his residences in the lead-up to his inauguration. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland emphasized the severity of the threat posed by Iran, stating that few actors in the world pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as Iran. The Department of Justice revealed that an IRGC official instructed the asset, Farhad Shakeri, to come up with a plan to kill Trump, with Shakeri being urged to provide the plan within seven days or postpone it until after the election.
The criminal complaint also mentions Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Loadholt, both of New York, who were charged in connection with an alleged plot to murder a U.S. citizen of Iranian descent. Shakeri, who lives in Iran and remains at large, had immigrated to the U.S. as a child but was deported in 2008 after serving 14 years for a robbery conviction. The IRGC official directed Shakeri to focus on planning Trump’s assassination, noting that it would be easier after the election. The Department of Justice did not respond to requests for comment on the threats or the investigation. The thwarted plot underscores the ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Iran, with the former vowing not to tolerate any attempts to harm American citizens or national security.
