Farhad Shakeri has been hit with allegations of attempting to take out Donald Trump. Allegedly, he conspired with Iran on a murder-for-hire plot with the latter's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). However, Iran's foreign ministry brushed off the claims on November 9, describing them as "totally unfounded."
The US government brought forth the case against the 51-year-old, claiming he was tasked with “surveilling and plotting to assassinate” Trump at Iran's behest. BBC has reported that the indictment involving the same was unsealed by the Department of Justice on Friday, November 8.
Who is Farhad Shakeri? Here's what we know about the alleged criminal mastermind
Farhad Shakeri is a resident of Tehran. He immigrated to the US as a child, but reportedly, turned to criminal activity. He was convicted of robbery in 1994, and consequently spent 14 years behind bars in New York. According to First Post, he was shifted to a Beacon facility in 2005, and in 2008, he was deported.
However, according to NDTV, Shakeri has been utilizing the connections he made during his time in prison to aid the IRGC, equipping them with operatives and informants. Allegedly, he also aided in executing persons of interest, the US Department of Justice claims.
Despite being deported, his parole supervision only expired in 2015, documents from the New York Department of Corrections has revealed. Four years later, he was apprehended in Sri Lanka in connection with the seizure of 92 kilograms of heroin.
Iran claims the plot is nothing but another way to intensify US-Iran tensions
According to Hot New Hip Hop, an FBI agent has rendered a sworn testimony that outlines phone calls with Farhad Shakeri. The outlet also reported that Shakeri and the co-defendants, the two men arrested alongside him, had until October 7 to devise an assassination scheme.
Reportedly, the plan was slated for mid-September. However, per the outlet, the plans were thwarted when one of the members of the Guard Corps found them lacking. Allegedly, they advised Farhad Shakeri to postpone his plans until after the election. However, the trio were under the impression that Trump would lose.
Attorney General Merrick Garland stated:
"[Shakeri] 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. There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran.”
However, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs “rejects allegations that Iran is implicated in an assassination attempt targeting former or current American officials," spokesman Esmail Baghaei has asserted, according to Al Jazeera.
He dubbed the plot "repulsive," claiming that Israel and Iranian opposition outside the country, “aimed at making US-Iran problems more complicated," and that they were the real masterminds.
Trending
Reportedly, Farhad Shakeri is on the run and is hiding in Iran. As for the other two men, identified as Carlisle Rivera, 49, from Brooklyn, and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, from Staten Island, they showed up in court in New York on Thursday. Per BBC, they are currently detained, awaiting trial.
Reply
