The U.S. Department of Justice charged on Friday three individuals tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) with conspiring to assassinate former President Donald Trump ahead of his re-election, according to a statement.
The Department identified the suspects as Farhad Shakeri, 51, of Iran; Carlisle Rivera of Brooklyn, New York; and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, of Staten Island, New York.
Prosecutors also charged the three with allegedly plotting to kill Masih Alinejad, a human rights activist and U.S. citizen of Iranian descent who has publicly opposed Iran’s treatment of women.
Authorities arrested Rivera and Loadholt on Thursday in Staten Island. Shakeri, believed to be in Iran, remains at large.
The IRGC directed Shakeri to gather intelligence on Trump and plan an assassination in retaliation for the January 2020 U.S. drone strike in Baghdad that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who led Iran’s Quds Force, the statement added.
Christopher Wray, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, stated, “The charges announced today expose Iran’s continued brazen attempts to target U.S. citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump, other government leaders, and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran.”