The U.S. Department of Justice has announced the charges against Farhad Shakeri, an Afghan national, in connection with an alleged plot orchestrated by Iran to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. The charges, unsealed on November 9, 2024, describe a chilling attempt to carry out a high-profile killing, which allegedly began in September of the year Trump was elected. Shakeri, accused of collaborating with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, is said to have devised a plan to surveil and kill Trump, though the plot was ultimately never carried out.
The indictment charges Shakeri, 51, for conspiring to commit murder-for-hire, alongside two others, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Loadholt, who were allegedly recruited to kill a prominent American journalist critical of Iran. According to U.S. authorities, Shakeri worked with a network of criminal associates, including Rivera and Loadholt, to plan these assassination attempts.
Shakeri, a former Afghan national who moved to the U.S. as a child, was deported in 2008 after serving a lengthy prison sentence for robbery. Despite his deportation, he allegedly continued to operate in a network supporting Iranian efforts to target dissidents and U.S. officials. The plot against Trump was reportedly put on hold due to the severe weather conditions of the time, but it allegedly picked up steam again after the 2020 U.S. election, with Iranian officials reportedly believing Trump would lose.
In court filings, Shakeri is described as using his extensive criminal contacts to track down people who would be willing to help carry out these dangerous missions. The charges revealed that Rivera and Loadholt were promised large sums of money to carry out the assassination of a U.S.-based journalist, identified only by initials in court documents. The journalist had long been a vocal critic of the Iranian regime, exposing its human rights violations and corruption. Both Rivera and Loadholt appeared in court in early November, with authorities confirming their arrest following an investigation into Shakeri’s activities.
The U.S. government has been intensifying efforts to prevent foreign-based assassination plots, particularly those tied to Iran. Shakeri’s charges highlight the ongoing threats from the Iranian regime, which has been accused of targeting dissidents worldwide. This case also adds to the list of assassination attempts involving Trump, who has been the target of at least two separate incidents in recent years. In July 2024, a gunman opened fire at Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, grazing his ear. In another incident in September, a man was arrested after pointing a rifle at Trump while he was golfing at his private club in West Palm Beach.
In a related development, authorities also revealed that Shakeri’s Iranian contacts had directed him to plan a mass shooting of Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka. This was allegedly intended to retaliate for the 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel. The charges against Shakeri, Rivera, and Loadholt also include conspiracy to commit money laundering, with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for this charge alone. The maximum sentence for murder-for-hire is 10 years in prison.
Iran, however, has strongly denied these accusations, with Esmaeil Baghaei, a spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, calling the allegations “completely baseless.” Baghaei emphasized that similar accusations have been made in the past but have proven to be false. The Iranian government also warned that such claims only serve to exacerbate tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
While the U.S. case proceeds, it also underscores a growing concern among intelligence and law enforcement agencies about the expanding reach of international networks aimed at targeting political figures, dissidents, and journalists. U.S. officials continue to monitor these threats closely as they work to prevent such acts of violence from reaching fruition.