The FBI has foiled a chilling plot by Iran’s secret service to assassinate Donald Trump, it revealed last night.
Three alleged hitmen have been charged over the ‘murder-for-hire’ scheme ordered by the feared Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
One of the men, Farhad Shakeri, is still on the run having fled the US for the Iranian capital Tehran where he is out of reach.
He allegedly confessed to the FBI that the Iranians have been devoting ‘a lot’ of money on efforts to kill Mr Trump. The other two are under arrest.
Mr Trump has already survived two attempts on his life, including avoiding death by a fraction of an inch when he was shot in the ear at an election rally in Pennsylvania in July.
Three alleged hitmen have been charged over an attempted murder of Donald Trump ordered by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)
Pictures released by the Justice Department after the thwarted attempt on Trump’s life
Pictures released by the DOJ show the cache of weapons the suspected hitmen had at their disposal
While in a US jail, Shakeri, an ‘asset’ of the IRGC, recruited two gun-toting American criminals to carry out the assassination, according to the US Department of Justice.
Shakeri, 51, said his Iranian handlers had instructed him last month to produce a plan within seven days to kill Mr Trump ahead of the election, according to documents unsealed last night.
It was said Shakeri had told his spymasters this would cost a ‘huge’ amount of money. In response they allegedly replied: ‘We have already spent a lot of money so the money’s not an issue.’
FBI special agent Mathew Chrusz said this was understood to mean that the Iranians had previously spent a significant sum of money on efforts to murder Mr Trump. He added that Iran’s leaders had vowed Mr Trump’s death to avenge the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s elite Quds Force, in a US drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020, during Mr Trump’s first presidency.
According to the FBI special agent, Shakeri – an Afghan refugee granted asylum in America – recruited two accomplices while serving time in a US prison for armed robbery. Carlisle Rivera, 49, and Jonathan Loadholt, 36, were both in prison for violent offences. Both men have been arrested and charged with offences relating to ‘murder-for-hire’.
But Shakeri, having allegedly made admissions to US agents, is currently ensconced in the Iranian capital out of reach of American law enforcement.
Announcing the charges last night, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said: ‘There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran.
‘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 against its targets, including President-elect Donald J Trump.’
According to the FBI, the IRGC also tasked Shakeri with carrying out other assassinations against US and Israeli citizens in the United States.
In September, Mr Trump threatened to blow Iran ‘to smithereens’ if he became President.
It came as a former head of MI6 has told Europe to wake up and ‘smell the coffee’ about its need to protect the continent following Mr Trump’s presidential victory.
Sir Alex Younger said subsequent generations would not easily forgive the political leaders of this era should they fail to take remedial action.
A picture released by the government of a weapon owned by the hitmen
Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday, he said: ‘Trump is disdainful of alliances, he takes a highly transactional approach to them.
‘The security guarantee we have enjoyed for 80 years, since the Second World War, is obviously going to have to change.’
In his first call with Volodymyr Zelensky since winning the election, Mr Trump invited tech billionaire Elon Musk to join the conversation.
It is the latest indication that Mr Musk will play a prominent role in Mr Trump’s administration.
It remained unclear last night what the Ukrainian president made of the move, as he has previously clashed with Mr Musk.
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