The story is worthy of a spy film. What if Donald Trump had escaped, once again, an assassination attempt, sponsored by the sworn enemy of the United States, Iran? This is what the American judicial authorities revealed, three days after the victory of the Republican candidate in the presidential election. We take stock.
What happened?
An “agent of Iran” has been indicted, American judicial authorities announced Friday. The man in question is, according to Manhattan federal prosecutors, Farhad Shakeri, a 51-year-old Afghan deported from the United States in 2008 after serving fourteen years in prison for robbery. Prosecutors said Farhad Shakeri was at large and believed to be residing in Iran. Two Americans were also arrested Thursday in this case: Carlisle Rivera, 49, and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, both residents of New York City.
What are they accused of?
Farhas Shakeri is accused of recruiting common criminals for the Revolutionary Guards, according to court documents. “This agent of the Iranian regime was tasked by the regime with leading a network of criminal accomplices to carry out Iran’s assassination plans against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump,” the Minister of Defense said. Justice, Merrick Garland, in a press release from his services.
Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Loardholt are indicted for planning the assassination of an American journalist of Iranian origin who is very critical of the Islamic Republic.
What is the evidence?
The conclusions of the American justice system are based on telephone conversations between agents of the American federal police (FBI) and Farhad Shakeri. He said he was in Tehran, and had agreed to be questioned in exchange for a reduced sentence for another person incarcerated in the United States.
During these five interviews, which took place between September 30 and November 7, he claimed that he received orders in September to put aside the other activities he was carrying out on behalf of the Guardians of the revolution in order to “focus on surveillance and, ultimately, assassination” of Donald Trump, according to a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan federal court.
Farhad Shakeri told the FBI that he was ordered during a meeting with a Revolutionary Guard official on October 7 to provide a plan within seven days to kill Donald Trump. This manager allegedly explained to him that beyond this deadline, the project would be postponed until after the November 5 election, considering that the Republican candidate would lose it and that it would therefore be easier to target him afterwards, according to the complaint.
The agent also allegedly pointed out to the head of the Revolutionary Guards that such a plan would cost an “enormous” sum, the complaint says. The manager reportedly replied: “We have already spent a lot of money,” adding that “money is not a problem.” The organization was willing to pay $1.5 million to have the journalist killed.
Court documents also outline plans to monitor “victim number 1” at a conference scheduled for February 15, 2024 at the University of Fairfield, Connecticut. This “victim number 1” was identified as Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American journalist and dissident.
She is not named by name in the plans, but described as having already been the target of assassination or kidnapping attempts sponsored by Tehran, which corresponds to her profile. In a video posted Friday on social networks, Masih Alinejad confirms that it is her and that she was one of the speakers at this conference, which was ultimately canceled.
The complaint says Farhad Shakeri ordered Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Loardholt to monitor the journalist for months. Their gain? $100,000 to find her and kill her. In an April voice note, the Afghan agent informed Carlisle Rivera that Masih Alinejad spent most of his time in an office on the third floor and in a recording studio on the second floor.
“You have to wait and have patience to catch her entering or leaving the house, or follow her somewhere and deal with her,” he says. “Don’t think about going in,” he told them, describing it as a “suicidal gesture.” “Finish the work and take action,” he wrote to them later.
What is the context?
The Islamic Republic has for years harbored a desire to retaliate for the death of military leader Qassem Soleimani, killed in Iraq in a drone strike ordered by Donald Trump, recalls the Department of Justice. During his first term, the billionaire had also “abandoned the Iran nuclear agreement”, and “imposed 1,500 sanctions which weakened the Iranian economy”, recalls the New York Times.
Furthermore, in October, American justice initiated proceedings against four Iranians, including a general of the Revolutionary Guards, for having sponsored a plan to assassinate Masih Alinejad in New York in 2022.
What reactions?
These accusations were rejected by Iranian diplomacy this Saturday. She describes as “totally unfounded (…) the allegations according to which Iran is involved in an assassination attempt targeting former or current American officials”.
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